Otzi The Iceman 'Speaks' After 5,000 Years Of Silence

In the 25 years since hikers stumbled upon his mummified remains high in the Italian Alps, Otzi the Iceman has given up many of his secrets.

In addition to the clothing he wore and the tools he used, research has detailed the germs he carried, the illnesses he suffered from and even the tattooes he had . We also know how he died  and what he had for his last meal (wild goat ).

Now we know the sound of his voice.

Otzi has been dead for more than 5,000 years, so how can we tell what he sounded like? Researchers working in Italy recently reconstructed his voice with the help of computer software and a 3D model of the Iceman’s vocal tract based upon CT scans of his mummified body.

“We made obviously some approximations of the real Otzi, because we lacked the exact dimensions of the vocal chords and the thickness and compositions of his tissues,” Dr. Francesco Avanzini, the physician who led the research team, told The Huffington Post in an email.

Avanzini, who presented the research earlier this month at the third Bolzano Mummy Congress , acknowledged that the gravelly voice heard in the brief recording is only an approximation.

But it sounds eerily lifelike. And unless someone figures out how to bring Otzi back to life, he’s not about to raise his voice in objection.