News How Ötzi the Iceman really got his tattoos An unusual experiment shows that the mummified man’s tattoos were poked, not sliced, into his skin Tattooed lines on Ötzi the Iceman’s left wrist, like others on his body, were created by poking holes in the skin with a pointed, pigment-coated tool, researchers say. South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, M. Samadelli/Eurac, G. Staschitz Share this:EmailFacebookTwitterPinterestPocketRedditPrint By Bruce Bower April 5, 2024 at 10:30 am An off-beat experiment has poked holes in a popular assumption about Ötzi the Iceman’s tattoos.