Mosses and the Tyrolean Iceman’s southern provenance

Abstract

The Tyrolean Iceman’s clothes have yielded remains of a total of 30 different bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), at least nine of which could not have grown at the great altitude of the death site. Most crucial are the two low altitude woodland mosses Neckera complanata and N. crispa . Their distribution patterns in Tyrol indicate strongly that the Iceman came from the south (modern Italy) rather than the north (Austria).