Scientists find 'signs of life' inside 5,300-year-old mummy in remarkable discovery

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. New video from the El Caño archaeological site in Panama shows finely crafted ceramics discovered inside a newly excavated tomb dating back more than 1,000 years. Researchers have uncovered traces of ancient microbes inside a mummy — unexpected "signs of life" that may have persisted for more than 5,300 years. The study, recently published in the journal Microbiome, centers on Ötzi the Iceman, a mummy found by a tourist inside a glacier in the Alps in 1991, news agency SWNS reported. Ötzi's remains date back to 3300 B.C., before Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids were built. He was between 25 and 35 years old when he died, and stood roughly 5 feet 2 inches tall. ANCIENT PALACE DISCOVERY CHALLENGES THE MYTH BEHIND SPARTA'S RISE TO POWER Researchers originally believed he succumbed to exposure or exhaustion while crossing the Alps, though later exami