Botanical investigations of the mummies

Abstract

Pollen analysis of a faecal lump shows that the food was contaminated by soil and soot. Oxyria digyna had presumably been eaten, as indicated by unripe pollen of this plant. The major part of the grassy soles of the stockings and kamiks was made up of Elymus arenarius ssp. mollis and Alopecurus alpinus. The bodies were laid down on a layer of Cassiope tetragona. Two independent indices point to, but do not prove, a burial during July-August.