Scientists find 'signs of life' inside 5,300-year-old mummy in remarkable discovery

Researchers have uncovered traces of ancient microbes inside a mummy — unexpected "signs of life" that may have persisted for more than 5,300 years.

The study, recently published in the journal Microbiome, centers on Ötzi the Iceman, a mummy found by a tourist inside a glacier in the Alps in 1991, news agency SWNS reported.

Ötzi's remains date back to 3300 B.C., before Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids were built. He was between 25 and 35 years old when he died, and stood roughly 5 feet 2 inches tall.