9 Times Humans Were Found Frozen in Ice

Times Humans Were Found Frozen in Ice

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at times when human remains were uncovered from ice.

Swiss Couple

In 1942, Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin went to feed their cattle one morning in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. That was the last time their children heard from their parents. Without them, the siblings were split up and raised by different families, losing contact over the years. In 2017, a technician for a ski-lift company was examining equipment on the Tsanfleuron Glacier in the Alps when they found strange black rocks. However, on closer inspection, it turned out to be items, like backpacks and glass bottles, and two bodies within the ice. DNA analysis soon confirmed it was the missing Dumoulin couple. Seemingly, they had fallen into a crevasse and sadly lost their lives. The surviving children held a funeral for their parents.

Zug-Zug the Caveman[a]

Imagine walking around Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, enjoying the fresh air. But then, you suddenly stop as you come across an unusual site: a caveman entombed in a block of ice. Well, that was what happened in 2021. But fear not, there’s an explanation for it. After being commissioned by ad agency Hunt Adkins the year before to create Zug-Zug the Caveman for an event, artist Zach Schumack and his collective put the artwork in the park, encouraging people to not use their phones and explore the outdoors. Schumack also stated that Zarah, “The Mother Huntress,” was out there, and this cavewoman was later found. The name Zug Zug is seemingly a nod to the 1981 film, “Caveman,” which used the phrase for…intimate relations.

Sacrificed Incan Children

In 1999, three mummies were found at the icy summit of Llullaillaco, a stratovolcano located in the Atacama Desert. These mummies are known as the Children of Llullaillaco, and they could be the best-preserved mummies in the entire world. One is the body of a teenage girl, and the other two are children believed to be around six and seven years old. It’s assumed that they are the victims of a human sacrifice meant to ensure a rich harvest and that they were killed around the year 1500. They were heavily drugged with alcohol and coca, placed five feet underground while asleep, and left to die. A combination of the freezing temperatures and extremely dry air have helped preserve their bodies for centuries.

Cynthia Charlton

Sadly, we’re not talking about an ancient mummy for this one. In 2017, a hiker discovered a dead body in a crevasse on New Zealand’s Fox Glacier, and contacted police. While some believed the corpse was decades old, the fact that it was found in a crevasse led glaciologist Andrew Mackintosh to assume that it was no more than five years old. His guess was correct. Further study found that the corpse was that of Cynthia Charlton, a British woman who died in a helicopter accident in November 2015. She was one of the crash’s seven victims, which also included her husband.

Mexican Climbers

Now here’s a creepy story for you. A climber on the slopes of Mexico’s Pico de Orizaba slipped and came face to face with a mummified head and arm protruding from the snow. That’s how episodes of “CSI” start! The authorities were called in, and two more frozen mummies were eventually discovered. An 81-year-old named Luis Espinosa declared he knew the mummies, as he was part of a tragic expedition that claimed three lives back in 1959. He recognized one of the men from his shirt and ring, which was emblazoned with his initials. It’s certainly nice for Luis to finally get some peace. But just imagine being the guy who found a mummified head sticking out of the snow!

A Preserved Mummy Head

In 2017, archaeologists found mummies buried in the Zeleniy Yar burial site near the Russian town of Salekhard. They found two mummies - one an adult woman and the other a baby. These mummies are estimated to be 900 years old and are said to be part of an unknown Medieval culture. The interesting thing was that the female mummy is the only female in the burial ground, leading some to assume that she was an elite member of society. It’s also interesting (and creepy!) because only her head has been preserved. On the head you can still see her hair and eyelashes, and her face has a green tint due to the copper she was buried in.

Three Members of the Franklin Expedition

Many are familiar with the ill-fated Franklin Expedition from Dan Simmons’s novel “The Terror” and its television adaptation. Three members of the expedition - John Torrington, William Braine, and John Hartnell - passed away shortly after departure and before the ships became stuck in the pack ice. They were buried on Beechey Island, Nunavut in 1846 and exhumed in 1984. What anthropologists found were remarkably preserved corpses, albeit incredibly disturbing ones. Their faces are contorted, their eyes frozen open, and their skin horribly frostbitten. Now imagine opening the coffins and seeing that...

Ötzi the Iceman

Ötzi is perhaps the most famous natural mummy in the world. Found in 1991 on the border of Austria and Italy, Ötzi is the naturally mummified corpse of a man who died around 3300 BC. The mummy was actually found by German tourists. They were hiking along a mountain path in the Ötztal Alps when they found the upper half of the mummy sticking out of the ice. It’s currently believed that the man bled to death after being struck by an arrow. His skinny, discolored, and leathery-looking body is now on display at Italy’s South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.

World War I Soldiers

During World War I, Allies battled the Austro-Hungarian Empire along the snowy mountains of the Alps. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers were killed by avalanches and the frigid temperatures, which sometimes dipped to -22 Fahrenheit. Beginning in the early 2010s, the mountain ice began to melt and started depositing long-lost frozen artifacts around the area. These included weapons, still-legible love letters, and dozens of mummified corpses. It’s a horrifying symbol of one of the most frightening periods of modern history.

Have you ever found anything out of the ordinary frozen in ice? Let us know in the comments below!

[a]rhymes with bug bug https://youtu.be/O1dt2zVBNzQ?si=Y_BcWppFuz4zGihi&t=50