Two Otzi style quivers

Otzi (also called the Ice Man, Similaun man and the man from Hauslabjoch) was found near Hauslabjoch, in the Otzal valley of the Alps in the summer of 1991. He was stumbled upon by two German tourists, Helmut and Erika Simon, who seemed to assume, due to his state of preservation, that he had recently died of exposure. When the Austrian authorities arrived on the scene they were confronted with a body that was partially encased in glacial ice, at which point they produced ice axes and a small jackhammer and attempted to extricate him from his icy tomb. In the process of extracting Otzi from the ice, the authorities managed to severely mangle his pelvic region, going so far as to sever his genitals. During the extraction several artifacts were unearthed, some of which it seems were tossed close to the area where onlookers had gathered, resulting in them being taken as souvenirs. After his extraction, Otzi was taken to the morgue at Innsbruck, it was at this time that the authorities began to realize his true age, 5,300 years old.

When Otzi's age and importance were discovered, the area where his body was found was excavated in more detailed and gentile ways. Several artifacts and pieces of clothing were found around and under the body. There are many papers and books written that focus on the “flashy” artifacts, namely his copper ax and his supposedly unfinished bow, and on the confusing portions of his clothing like his shoes/moccasins and grass “cape”. Often his quiver is either simply mentioned as a side item or overlooked completely. On the few occasions that the quiver is mentioned the authors can't seem to quite grasp how it was intended to be used/worn.

Few archaeologists replicate or experiment their finds, of the few who do, the majority of them don't seem to be able to get beyond a certain mindset. When it comes to the items found with Otzi, the common thinking of “those in the know” is that due to his bow not having string knocks cut into it that it was unfinished, I have much to say on this and will touch on it later. The other piece of conventional thinking is that his quiver was worn on his back. This seems to have been influenced by several things, but namely it appears to be a holdover from the European archery resurgence/romantacization that occurred during the late Victorian era, and the Robin Hood films of the 30s and 40s.

The majority of archers that have used, or carried, a quiver for a long period of time in a wooded area quickly find that a back quiver is not the proper choice for the terrain. The top portion of the quiver sticking up over your shoulder is almost uncontrollable, it seems to have a mind of it's own, reaching out to grab every twig and low hanging branch. Even if you don't have issues with the quiver getting hung up on branches, you will still, at some point, have to extract an approximately 30”-36” long arrow over your shoulder, from a flapped quiver. Imagine trying to remove something the length of a yardstick from a relatively inflexible container strapped to your back while trying to hide from the animal/person you are trying to shoot, it simply doesn't make sense. What does make sense is that Otzi carried his quiver more like the Plains Indians, slung over one shoulder, hanging horizontally. It is incredibly easy to control and maneuver a quiver hung horizontally. When in the way it can easily pushed,with little motion, to hang behind the body or at the side, and can quickly be shifted to the front of your body to easily remove an arrow without having to raise your arm above shoulder level.

I have made several quivers in the style of the one found with Otzi, the first one was poorly done, it was based off of a low quality photo that had been inverted. Basically, the quiver was backwards and opened the wrong way, thus making it difficult for a right handed archer to use. I still posses this quiver, however, I have no photos of it at this time and it is not readily accessible.

My second attempt at the quiver came out much better.

Having done more research and collected more photos of the original quiver I was able to construct a very useable quiver of the type that Otzi was carrying. This quiver is currently in my possession, out of the quivers that I currently own, this is the one I tend to grab. With it's double flaps it's not exactly convenient to use, but it's structurally stable and does a good job of protecting my arrows from the elements.

After making the quiver above, my father asked me to build one like it for my step-mother.

There are some differences between the two quivers, the quiver made for my step-mother has slightly straighter sides, and it was requested that I give it a bit more environmental protection by adding a third flap.

I have no idea where this quiver is at this time, my step-mother passed away a few years ago and the time has never seemed right to ask my father about it.

The mouths and interior flaps of both quivers are lined with rabbit fur, and both quivers have stabilizers made from privet (most people here say privet is a useless weed, I've found many uses for it including quiver stabilizers and arrows) and antler buttons that, if I remember correctly, I drilled with a pump drill.

It might be noted that I have referred to these quivers as being in the style of, or the type, that was found with Otzi, and not as replicas. These are not replicas, they were not made of the same leather and the stabilizers are not made from the same wood as was found on Otzi's quiver, dimension wise these quivers aren't aren't the same either. These two quivers look like the type of quiver that was found with Otzi. As far as I know no other quiver of this type has ever been found, considering Otzi's age, and the rarity of a find of this type, that is not unusual. However, I believe that it's safe to assume that, given the meticulous work involved in stitching together the small, odd shaped pieces of leather that make up Otzi's quiver, it was probably of a style familiar to the people in Otzi's area. This is the same reasoning used by the archaeologists when dealing with Otzi's coat and leggins and I see no reason not to assume the same about his quiver.