Scientists trace Iceman whose 5,300-year-old body was found frozen in the Alps

Scientists in Austria have found 19 living descendants of a prehistoric iceman whose 5,300-year-old body was found frozen in the Alps.

Researchers from the Institute of Legal Medicine at Innsbruck Medical University took DNA samples from blood donors in Tyrol in the west of the country.

They managed to match a particular genetic mutation with that of Ötzi, whose body was discovered back in 1991.

Experts now believe that the same mutation might also be found in the nearby rgions of Engadine in Switzerland and the South Tyrol region of Italy.

According to the BBC, Walther Parson from the university, said: 'We have already found Swiss and Italian partners so that we can pursue our research.'

A hole in his collarbone suggested he was killed by an arrow, then a brain scan concluded he died from a fall.

But research earlier this year, from the European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen (EURAC) in Germany, discovered he suffered brain damage likely caused by a blow to the head.