Since nicknamed Oetzi after a local mountain range, the mummified corpse has revealed a wealth of information on what people of the period wore and ate, how they hunted and armed themselves and how they travelled.
He is believed to have died 5,300 years ago as a result of a violent attack – he was shot by an arrow and then possibly hit with a blunt instrument such as a club. Scientists at the press conference said the discovery of the snowshoe was “exceptional”.
"The shoe is evidence that people in the Neolithic period were living in the Alps area and had equipped themselves accordingly," said Dr Catrin Marzoli, the director of the province’s cultural heritage department.
It was unclear why people were travelling through such an inhospitable region, she said. They may have been hunting animals, fleeing enemies from a rival tribe, or visiting pagan sites of worship. The shoe will be put on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano.
Global warming and the gradual retreat of glaciers has helped unearth new finds, said Valentino Pagani, the museum’s director of archaeology. “It is important that we make these discoveries - and through them the life stories of the South Tyrol people - available to as many people as possible," he said.
Oetzi’s remarkably-preserved body is on display in a cold storage chamber at the museum. Research has revealed that he was in his forties, his body was decorated with tattoos, and one of his last meals was ibex meat. He probably died of blood loss, having been struck in the shoulder by an arrow. He was suffering from arthritis and possibly Lyme disease when he died.