Ötzi

About Ötzi

Ötzi the Iceman is a remarkably preserved natural mummy of a man who lived in the European Alps approximately 5,300 years ago, dating to the Copper Age. His importance, earning him an HPI Rank of #405, stems from the unparalleled scientific insights he offers into late Neolithic life, including his tools, clothing, tattoos, and last meal. Discovered in 1991, Ötzi represents a unique, direct link to a prehistoric European individual, far surpassing the cultural influence of many later, better-known figures.

Despite his significant historical depth, Ötzi’s modern online presence suggests a considerable attention gap. He garnered 761K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025, resulting in an Attention Gap of approximately 1x-meaning his attention is relatively proportional to his historical importance among this specific ranked cohort. However, this figure is notably less than contemporaries in the comparison pool, such as Wallis Simpson (#664 importance), who received 1.4M views, despite Ötzi ranking nearly 260 spots higher in historical influence.

While his attention is stable overall, Ötzi is experiencing a slight decline, with year-over-year views dropping by -8.4%. Interestingly, his short-term interest shows a slight positive trend, with momentum increasing by +6% between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting sporadic spikes in relevance that keep his profile alive online.