Copper axe owned by Neolithic hunter Ötzi the Iceman came all the way from Tuscany

Five thousand years before the British middle classes flocked to “Chiantishire” to buy wine, cheese and olive oil, products from Tuscany already had a certain cachet, it has emerged.

New research has shown that a copper axe carried by a Neolithic hunter known as Ötzi the Iceman came from southern Tuscany. The find has surprised experts because hundreds of miles separate Tuscany from the Alpine pass where the mummified body of Ötzi was discovered 25 years ago. Read more.