Oetzi, the 5,300-year-old ice mummy discovered in the Italian Alps, is at the centre of a bitter court battle as three different people try to claim the ?50,000 (?33,000) reward for discovering him.

　　Credit for finding the prehistoric hunter, whose remains were perfectly preserved in the Oztal glacer on the Italian-Austrian border, originally went to two German hikers, Erika and Helmut Simon.

　　But Mrs Simon, whose husband died last year, now faces rival claims from two other women who say they were part of the same mountaineering party that came across him in 1991.

　　Their claims are being heard in court in Bolzano in northern Italy, where Oetzi is on display, and where he generates ?2 million a year for the city from tourists.

　　The first rival claimant is Swiss woman Sandra Nemeth, who claims to have spat on the mummy to ''mark'' it with her DNA after a row on the hillside with the Simons over who made the discovery. She has asked for a DNA test on the remains but experts believe that there is little chance of finding any trace. The second claimant is Magdalena Mohar Jarc, from Ljubliana, Slovenia.

　　The legal case has angered Mrs Simon, who claims that neither other woman was present on the mountain that day. Her lawyer, Armin Weis, said: "Mrs Simon is very upset by all this and by the fact that these two new claimants have decided to appear 14 years after Oetzi was found."




3名妇女为5300年冰川木乃伊之争上法庭
　　1991年，一具有5300年历史的冰川木乃伊在意大利阿尔卑斯山冰川中被发现。不久前，3名妇女为了争夺3.3万英镑的奖金，都声称自己是木乃伊的最初发现者。为了平息这场纠纷，意大利地方法院日前已经开始受理此案。

　　据《每日电讯》10月23日报道，这具冰川木乃伊被命名为"冰人奥兹"。德国游客赫尔穆特-西蒙与妻子埃里卡一直被认为是冰人的最初发现者。但直到2004年西蒙先生去世时，西蒙夫妇作为冰人发现者的身份还没有得到公开承认或经济上的奖励。但有两名妇女日前声称：她们与西蒙夫妇同时发现了冰人。

　　瑞士妇女桑德拉-纳米斯称自己和西蒙夫妇一起发现了冰人。她表示，当时她还拍打了冰人，这可以通过DNA测试来检测她留在冰人身上的痕迹。但专家认为，纳米斯的建议几乎是不可行的。接着，斯洛文尼亚妇女马格达里娜-贾克也称自己是冰人的发现者。

　　面对突然冒出来的两名"发现者"，西蒙太太表示很愤怒。她称，发现冰人时这两名妇女均没有在场。她的律师说："西蒙太太对此感到很难过，两名妇女竟然在冰人被发现14年后才称自己也是发现者。"

　　目前，意大利北部博尔兹诺镇的法庭正在受理此案。博尔兹诺镇是"冰人奥兹"的发现地，当地专门为冰人修建了博物馆并对游人开放。这具5300年前的冰川木乃伊被保存在摄氏零下6度的冰棺里，吸引了大批的参观者，每年为当地带来200万英镑的旅游收入。