The iceman under pressure (part I): A description of skull deformations due to 5100 years of glacial action

Due to its long deposition in the glacier, the 'Iceman' (an ice-mummy from the Haus-labjoch) has been deformed, notably its skull. We introduce variou s comparative methods that describe these deformations, assuming they can b e ascribed - to a large extent to glacial action, While pressure is a scala r, the deformations must be described via a 2-tenser strain field (which ca n be represented by a matrix: function value at every point throughout the skull). In this paper, we present the assumed deformations in numerous grap hical forms-and, furthermore, the limitations in, interpretation. - includi ng art estimate of statistical variability - that can be revealed by this a nalysis. These methods, although describing the results of glacial action a nd implying a 2-tensor strain field (which will be presented in a subsequen t paper), do not permit a straightforward reconstruction of the original, u ndeformed skull. These methods have wider applications to the general probl em of deformation.