Prehistoric human presence in seemingly hostile and inhospitable high altitude alpine locations may seem unlikely at first sight.

Nevertheless, such presence during the Holocene has been confirmed archeologically on various occasions.

Generally, remote mountainous locals were not inhabited permanently but visited for the purpose of raw material extraction, hunting or transalpine travel,.

Examples of such activities are  for example Mesolithic rock crystal extraction sites in the Kanton Wallis, the Ursernvalley and around the Gotthard (CH) or the unique neolithic Jadeit mining at Monte Viso (I).

Apart from the neolithic finds at the Schnidejoch (CH) the most famous proof of trans alpine travel is of course the ice mummy from the Hauslabjoch, know as the Iceman or Ötzi in German.

In the light of this early human activity in the Alps we were inspired to endeavour a reenactment of alpine travel, in the Ötztaler Alps, Tyrol, in order to put reconstructed prehistoric clothing and gear to a test in such an environment.

As an initiative and under the guidance of Philip Schraut, mountain guide and experimental archaeologist from Partschins we planned a first trek to take place in October 2024.

The idea of this reenactment was to conduct a multi-day hike with stone age gear passing the locale where the Iceman was discovered in 1992.

Discussed were possible ascending routes which the Iceman might have taken up to the pass.

Our team consisted of Philip Schraut (I),  André Schnellmann (CH), Dennis Moch (D) and myself.

We were exclusively equipped with reconstructed prehistoric gear, spanning the epochs from the late Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. Among our gear were several different reconstruction attempts of items found with the Iceman, like his leggings, shoes, back pack, belt and other smaller items.

I carried 10 kg of gear, the heaviest pack was about 18 kg.

The month of October was chosen due to the weather still being generally rather good even at high altitudes.

Our trip started from the village of Latsch in the Vinschgau valley (640m altitude). This place is regarded as the most likely home of the Iceman. There is a neolithic village site nearby.

We then passed the rocky and steep area around Juval (1000m) where we spent the first night. This is also a local, that features neolithic finds. From there we entered the narrow and wild Schnalstal and hiked  to the Archeo Parc Museum at Unsere Frau (1500m), where we were kindly allowed to spend the next night in a reconstructed neolithic house.

Then we hiked up the Tisental until we reached a stone enclosure called Schneckenhaus, a Mesolithic hunting station. Unfortunatly weather conditions further up had turned so bad, that it was decided to turn back instead of pressing on to the Hauslabjoch (3200m) and beyond to Austria as planned. Severe snowfall had covered all trails. So we descended and took another day hike at a safer location instead.

During our trip we passed through very diverse terrain, from thick oak and chestnut forests  in the valleys to lovely alpine meadows and harsh rocky terrain above the tree line. We walked on some roads, but mostly on small hiking trails, had to ford icy mountain creeks and pass over muddy avalanches.

Intense sun, clouds and fog, as well as rain hit us along the trails. Temperatures varied from about 30 Celsius in the valley to below 10 Celsius. We were harvesting  some berries, mushrooms and chestnuts along the way and otherwise relied on our stock, consisting of foods, that would have also been available in prehistory .

Unexpectedly  I walked barefoot 90% of the trek.  I had shoes with me but fared better without using them, as footwear gets wet and uncomfortable, is prone to breakage and potentially creates blisters and irritations.

It  was a fun and insightful trip with regards to our prehistoric clothing and gear and we decided, there and then, to return for a second attempt to reach the place where the Iceman found his last rest.

Some local newspapers were reporting on the event.

This year’s trek took us from  the Archaeo Parc into the Tisental and all the way to the mesolithic site of  "Schneckenhaus". Here we spend a first night in the stone enclosure at sub-zero temperatures.

The next day we proceeded further on upwards until the marked trail veered off to the Hauslabjoch. We decided to followed the most likely route, the Iceman took 5300 years ago.

This is an unmarked, very steep and strenious climb along a rocky ridge strewn with loose bolders and gravel. Finally we reached the Tisenjoch ridge at an altitude of 3200 m, which was covered in snow.

The exact location of the find of the ice mummy is marked with a number of red dots on the rocks.

From there we proceeded over snowy, icy and muddy slopes downward on the Austrian side until the evening, finally reaching the location of "Martin Busch Hospiz", where we spend another night.

The next day we passed the the outskirts of the village of Vent and explored another mesolothic/neolithic rockshelter called "Hohle Fels" (2000 m). From there our way led into another lonely valley where we spend the third night at "Hochjoch Hospiz". The fourth day brought a climb back up to an elevation of 2800 m before steeply descending to the mesolithic site "Auf den Wasserfällen" above the ski resort of  Kurzras.

Flint  from all the mesolithic sites originate from the area around Lake Garda roughly 200km further south, thus pointing to long distance alpine travel, even before the time of the Iceman.

From Kurzras we returned to Unsere Frau, bringing our trek to a full circle.

Travelling under such conditions with replicated prehistoric clothing and equippment  was challenging and gives you a very keen experience of early Holozene conditions in these alpine environments, which are rich in extremes and  dominated by an unforgiving but rugedly beautiful nature.

The equippment held up well and proved adequat for the conditions. Minor repairs had to be done along the way.

The beginning and the end of the trek were documented by an Italien film crew, documenting our endevour for Italien public television (RAI).

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