A 5,200-year-old man found frozen in a glacier may have been an infertile outcast, a new study suggests.

The mummy, known as Oetzi, was found in the Alps between Italy and Austria in 1991.

Researchers have now studied samples of DNA taken from his intestines. They say it shows two mutations typically found in men with reduced sperm function, which often leads to sterility.

Scientist examines Oetzi (AP file photo)

"The possibility that he was unable to father offspring cannot be eliminated," said the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in the Alpine town of Bolzano, Italy.

"This not improbable hypothesis raises new questions concerning his social rank within his society," the museum, which stores the iceman, added in a statement.

Italian anthropologist Franco Rollo determined Oetzi's DNA likely hails from central Europe. Specifically, he appears to be a Ladine, an ethnic group that still lives in the region.

• FROM OCT. 30, 2003: Iceman stuck close to home: study

Previous studies showed an arrowhead in the body's left shoulder blade, and blood from four different people was found on his clothes. The findings have led some to speculate he came to a violent end.

Oetzi also had cuts on his hands. He was wearing three layers of clothes made from goat, deerskin and bark.

Medicine in his pockets and the weapons he was carrying suggest he may have had a higher status, but others say he was a social outcast.

Rollo's paper will be published in February's edition of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.