Ötzi the Iceman‘s skin and stomach are brimming with yeasts that penetrated his remains quickly after his murder 5,300 years earlier– and some might still be active, a brand-new research study exposes.

The yeast stress covering his body are adjusted to cold environments, having actually originated from the Alpine glaciers Ötzi when called home. This suggests the spores have actually continued colonizing his mummified remains regardless of being kept in a refrigeration chamber at 21 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 6 degrees Celsius) following his discovery in 1991. Researchers exposed their findings in a research study released June 3 in the journal Microbiome