Archaeologia Austriaca is a peer-reviewed international journal, which is issued in print and online on an annual basis. Archaeologia Austriaca publishes articles, short reports, special sections and book reviews on the archaeology of Austria, Europe and related areas. Predominant languages are English and German. The journal covers all periods from the Palaeolithic to Modern Times. Archaeologia Austriaca is indexed by ESCI (Web of Science), Scopus, Scimago, ERIH PLUS, ANVUR, Portico, Crossref, EZB (Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek) and JSTOR.
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: 1. The author declares that the manuscript is complete and that the exploitation rights to this work have not been exercised elsewhere either fully or partially. He declares, with binding effect for himself and his legal successors, that he grants the Austrian Academy of Sciences the worldwide, exclusive, transferable right to use for reproduction and distribution for all impressions, editions, and reprints to be determined by the Academy for the duration of legal copyright. In particular, the transferred right to use includes the right a) to preprint and reprint the work or parts of the work in newspapers and periodicals; b) to translate the work into other languages; c) to exploit the work on radio and television, as well as the associated right to communicate the work; d) to reproduce and distribute the work on microfilm; e) to reproduce and distribute the work on a compact disc, mini disc, DVD, and similar devices for repeated replay; f) to issue abridged editions as well as paperback, special, and school editions and to grant licences for such editions to other publishers and book clubs; g) to present and make sound recordings of the work; h) to exploit and transfer the work via databases, data storage media, or similar devices (especially exploitation on the Internet); i) to revise and edit the work; j) to exploit the work in other ways which may arise due to technological development, legislation, or legal decision. The Austrian Academy of Sciences derives an unlimited right to reproduce from the exploitation right. The exploitation right may therefore be exercised by the Austrian Academy of Sciences or third parties the Academy designates. The author also declares that he possesses the copyright and right to use to all parts of the work; this especially applies to images in the work and on the cover, as well as to the use of cover images for the publisher’s advertising purposes (especially on the Internet). The author is liable for any financial losses (especially claims for damages and claims on account of unjust enrichment) resulting from the violation of copyright or the right to use. 2. The author acknowledges that, based on this declaration, the publisher will undertake the reproduction and distribution of the work in the manner established by custom thus far and will assume responsibility for appropriate advertising. The publisher has the right to decide on all publishing-related issues (e.g. prices and conditions, advertisement, etc.). 3. In particular, the author may control his contributions or must abstain from the following uses in the following way: a) Parallel publications of articles from periodicals or anthologies on the intranet of the author's home institution are only permissible after their publication by the publisher and must include an indication of the source and a link to the publication on the publisher’s homepage. b) The general publication of a journal article or contribution to an edited collection or of conference proceedings in a themed repository or the repository of the author's home institution is only permitted for the simple text version (such as a Word document). Such a publication is not permitted for the version published by the publisher (authorised version). c) Immediate and free access to the public for the article or contribution through a release on the server of the publisher is possible upon request in exchange for a payment. The amount will be determined by the publisher. This type of online release will follow ten years after the first publication without additional cost for all publications of the publisher. d) Articles from periodicals may also be published by third parties two years after the first publication by the Austrian Academy of Science’s publishing house (non-exclusive publication rights of the publisher starting from the end of the second year). As soon as the Austrian Academy of Sciences publishes the journal open access, the lit. a.­-­d. of this section are invalid. 4. The author agrees to attend to corrections of galley proofs and revisions without remuneration by the agreed date. Modifications to the completed text and modifications to images are charged to the author at cost price if they exceed 10% of the production costs of his contribution and if they were not caused by the setting of the contribution for printing or by unforeseeable updates to the manuscript. 5. The author of a contribution will receive one volume of the journal which contains his contribution and a pdf. He has the right to purchase additional copies of the journal from the publisher for personal use at a discounted rate of 35% of the store price. Further benefits are not stipulated. 6. As a rule, the works of the publisher are available for ten years. If no appreciable turnover of the work can be achieved at that time, the publisher has the right to lower the store price and sell the remainder at a reduced price. 7. If one or more provisions of this contract prove to be invalid or ineffective, the contracting parties will replace it by one or more new and valid provisions that correspond to the purpose of the original. Modifications and additions to this agreement must be in written form; handwritten deletions and additions are invalid. Austrian law applies to this agreement. The place of jurisdiction is Vienna. 8. The English version of the contract is for information only and is not legally binding. Therefore only the German version should be signed.
A First Glimpse into the Roman Period Mass Grave from Wien-Simmering
In October 2024, a mass grave dating to the 1st- 2nd century AD was discovered during construction in Wien-Simmering. Excavations revealed 129 men buried without systematic orientation or positioning and displaying extensive perimortem trauma through projectiles, sharp and blunt weapons. Recovered equipment associates the men with the Roman military, though the historic background of the event remains to be determined through further research.
Copyright (c) 2025 ARCHAEOLOGIA AUSTRIACA
The aDNA Revolution Moves Beyond Genetics
Ancient DNA has revolutionized the fields of archaeology and anthropology. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the field of kinship studies. This report provides a reflection on a recent workshop focused on exploring non-biological kinship in light of recent aDNA research. It presents a summary of workshop participant reflections that emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration for future research on ancient kinship.
Decoration on ceramics as evidence of mobile craftsmen in La Tène period Middle Danube region
Craftmanship activity (including moblie) has occasionally been the subject of works on the La Tène period in Lower Austria. In this case, it concerns special forms of decoration on ceramics in the Lower Traisen valley. These are oblique hatchings between two concentric circles, which are treated based on examples in the Traisen valley and the surrounding areas and may be an indication of mobile craftsmen.
The Late Bronze Age is marked by an increasing homogenization of material culture and burial customs. The cemetery of Inzersdorf, situated in the Lower Traisen Valley, Austria, serves as a case study to examine diachronic changes in burial practices. This paper interprets radiocarbon data from 49 calcined human bone samples and employs correspondence analysis of grave contexts. The carefully integrated dataset enables the precise delineation of the cemetery's chronological structure in relation to the burial practices, which include body-sized graves, graves encircled by ditches, and urn graves. Insights into rituals or ancestral veneration emerge from temporal discrepancies in graves with multiple occupation. The analysis indicates the cemetery’s early origin at around 1400 BC, at the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age, and identifies two peak phases of activity before burial practices decline around 950 BC. The integration of typo-chronological markers, 14C data, and comparisons with nearby contemporary cemeteries reveals a complex temporal framework, emphasizing the fluidity and regional variability of burial practices. This challenges assumptions of a linear development in mortuary rites and establishes an absolute as well as relative chronology of the Late Bronze Age for eastern Austria.
This study examines the subjects of archaeology, ancient history and prehistory and early history at the Austrian universities of Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck during the Nazi era and in the years before and after. It is a first overview of the three universities and the associated networks and institutions relevant to the subjects. After an overview of the research history of these disciplines, the political conditions under which research and teaching took place at the universities during Austrofascism, the Nazi era and the early years of the Second Republic are presented. Biographical sketches of the representatives of these subjects and their areas of specialization show the focus at the universities and the varying degrees of involvement of the teaching staff in National Socialism. Research and teaching were adapted to varying degrees to the Nazi demand to pursue “science in the national sense”. There was practically no resistance; the majority of professors were already German nationalist in the interwar period. The expulsion of academics from universities for racist or political reasons in 1938 and the failed denazification in 1945 are also discussed. Ethnic thought patterns also continued in archaeology and classical studies into the Second Republic.
The rediscovery of an unusual grave from the Vienna Central Cemetery, which can be dated to the Migration Period, provides new insights into a period of transition in the early Middle Ages. In this article, the current inventory and state of preservation are documented, the human remains and artefacts are sorted and the history of the grave's discovery is re-examined. An anthropological, archaeological and archaeozoological analysis of the individual parts furthermore allows us to draw conclusions about the cultural and military situation in the Vienna Basin of the early 5th century.
In the municipality of Langkampfen in the Tyrolean lowlands, a previously unknown settlement from the Middle and Early Late Bronze Age was uncovered during an archaeological excavation in 2020. The site, consisting mainly of a find-rich layer and four presumed fireplaces, probably represents the southern edge of a formerly larger settlement area in the cadastral section “Am Sonnenhang”. More than 30 kg of pottery fragments were recovered from the site, which typologically belong to the Inner Alpine Bronze Age and have close parallels particularly in the area of Grisons (CH) to Salzburg (AT) and in Bavaria (DE). By systematically collecting sediment samples, archaeobotanical samples and charcoal were also obtained for scientific analyses. The analysed crop remains and charred amorphous objects as probable remains of food preparation support the interpretation as a Bronze Age settlement. A total of six radiocarbon dates conducted on charcoal samples and a charred bean confirm the chronological classification of the find complex to the 15th–13th century BC. The presence of nummulites in some ceramic fragments allowed a preliminary determination of the clay deposit used for pottery production, which can probably be linked to the Angerberg layers found at Angath. The discovery of this settlement and its comprehensive documentation helps to close a find and research gap for the Metal Ages in the Tyrolean lowlands.
Lost or Found? Mikroarchäologie bei Rettungsgrabungen in Österreich
Lost or Found? Microarchaeology at rescue excavations in Austria. Results of the Thousand Ideas Programme 2021-2023 The aim of the "Lost or Found?" project was 1) to obtain a systematic sample of micro-archaeological finds from rescue excavations throughout Austria and 2) to evaluate the charred plant remains, fish remains and metallurgical micro-residues in their archaeological settlement and feature contexts. The focus was on prehistoric settlement features from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age, whereby as many of Austria's federal states as possible were to be considered. A total of 673 samples were collected from 25 sites in seven states. A number of sites are multi-period, so samples from a total of 43 settlement periods are available. The analyses of the first 233 samples are presented in this article. In the general part of the analysis, the frequencies and find densities of various categories of microfinds (charcoal, charred plant remains, "charred amorphous objects", flint, fish bones, metal finds and slag) are discussed. On the basis of the comprehensive sample, diachronic and feature-related differences can be demonstrated. The most important findings for each individual site are summarised in the special section. From a cross-excavation perspective, the potential of microarchaeology in the discovery of "invisible" activities becomes particularly apparent. Finally, recommendations for the integration of microarchaeological sampling into the practice of professionalised rescue excavations are formulated.
Dreidimensionale Structure-from-Motion-Kartierung ultrafeiner Strukturen am Beispiel der Pressbrokatapplikation in der Memminger Frauenkirche
Drone-based 3D-documentation has already been applied since years in the archaeological research. In addition, a three-dimensional mapping of archaeological findings with the aid of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) gets common in archaeology. In doing so, the question arises, until which size, small variations in the surface texture can be resolved simply from photos or if other methods for 3D-documentation, like e.g. laserscanners, have to be used. In the framework of this model project showing results of three-dimensional applications at a medieval wall painting, a so-called tin-relief, we proof that even ultra-faint variations in submillimetre scale can be visualized and documented. Hence, SfM is still applicable for objects that cannot be resolved anymore with other methods like e.g. grazing light scanners.
Copyright (c) 2024 ARCHAEOLOGIA AUSTRIACA
Die mittelbronzezeitliche Siedlung von Müllendorf, Gewerbegebiet Breitensee
During a rescue excavation in the industrial area of Müllendorf (Burgenland, Austria), the south-eastern part of an extensive settlement area was investigated on an area of about 2.8 ha. Among the features were several storage pits, 55 reconstructed buildings and a ditch partially enclosing the settlement. The bronze artefacts, which were recovered from the settlement area date from the older to the younger Hügelgräberzeit (Bz B1-C2). The distribution of the bronze objects and the almost uniform northwest-southeast orientation of the buildings leads to the assumption that most of the settlement structures date to the Middle Bronze Age. The comparison of the buildings from Müllendorf to those of other Bronze Age settlements shows that the building types are constructed according to the Bronze Age building tradition. There are connections to the Březno type, which has been present since the Early Bronze Age, as well as to the squat rectangular and more type-rich buildings of the Urnfield Period.
Animal Bone Remains from the Early Copper Age Settlement Pits in Rannersdorf
In contrast to the Middle Neolithic, when the importance of subsistence hunting reached its peak, the settlements of subsequent periods suggest a greater dependence on domestic animals and cattle. So far, scarce early Copper Age faunal collections, however, show that the development was not uniform and that the relative importance of species depended on the natural environment and the socio-economic status of the sites. This paper provides new insight into the dietary habits and animal husbandry practices of the Bisamberg-Oberpullendorf Group settled in eastern Austria at the end of the 5th millennium BC. The analysed food debris discovered during the rescue excavation in 2003 in Rannersdorf hints at the pastoral character of the economy, with a reliance on grazing herbivores. A significant proportion of cattle and caprines were slaughtered at a higher adult age showing that these were animals serving multiple functions. Pigs and wild animals were of minor importance and dogs may had been consumed. The inhabitants hunted for red deer, aurochs and beavers, occasionally also for birds, small carnivores and wild horses. The presence of the latter speaks against dense forests in the region.
Exploring the surrounding of a Gravettian site: Grub-Kranawetberg, Austria
In this report we summarize the findings of our fieldwalking survey conducted around the well-known Mid-Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian) open-air site Grub-Kranawetberg I in Lower Austria, about 40 kilometres northeast of Vienna. In September 2021 we surveyed around 126,000 square metres using GNSS to piece-plot each find. In total, we recovered 359 finds comprising lithic artefacts and faunal remains. In our analysis we show that the state of the fields did not drive how many finds per cadastral parcel were recovered during our survey and did not bias the find density per cadastral parcel. The majority of finds hints to a Gravettian and occurs in two concentrations on top of the hill west of the known site Grub-Kranawetberg I.
Symbole des Himmels, Symbole der Götter – Noch einmal zu den Schalen mit verziertem Boden aus der Gradina Monkodonja nahe Rovinj, Kroatien
In the following article, the publication of the volume "Monkodonja 4" as the last volume of the presentation of the excavation results in the hillfort, Gradina, Monkodonja near Rovinj in Istria (Croatia), which was examined between 1997-2008 as part of a Croatian-German-Slovenian joint project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), is taken as an occasion for a further treatise on a specific form of vessel decoration. Namely, bowls with a decorated bottom. The article thus thematically follows on from an earlier study that also dealt with the bottom decorations of certain bowls from Monkodonja. For the latter, it could be shown that, on the one hand, certain ornaments have a deeper (symbolic) meaning and, on the other hand, Monkodonja and Istria were integrated into the Early and Middle Bronze Age communication network between the northern Adriatic, the central Danube region and the Carpathian Basin. For the bottom decorations examined in this article, it is now apparent that they can be seen in a geographically much more far-reaching sphere of interaction, which stretched from the Caput Adriae across central and south-eastern Europe to far into the eastern Mediterranean region, Asia Minor and northern Mesopotamia. The fortified hilltop settlement of Monkodonja dates to the developed Early and Middle Bronze Age or to a period between the phase Bz A1 and the transition from the Bz B1 to Bz B2/C1, according to Reinecke's chronological scheme for Central Europe.
Object biographies provide, in addition to their historical information, a better understanding of the relationships between people and objects. In this way, networks of people and institutions as well as their development can be depicted from the perspective of an object. Here, the biography of the replica of a so-called baton of command from the study collection of the Institute for Prehistory and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna is presented. This biography provides an interesting insight into the trade of antiquities and replicas, as well as into the networks between scholars, collectors and dealers in the 19th century. The biography of the replica not only accompanies the founding of Austrian prehistoric research and archaeological teaching in Vienna, but also reveals contacts between the first Austrian prehistorians and a French antiquarian who became known worldwide for selling fake crystal skulls. From the perspective of the object, a change in the value of replicas from their prime in the second half of the 19th century to their loss of importance in modern times. Despite their marginal role in collections, replicas can make a significant contribution to the history of science, but also offer museums the opportunity to provide visitors with more interactivity and to increase their engagement with the exhibition theme.
The Linear Pottery settlement Kleinhadersdorf-Marchleiten
The Linear Pottery cemetery of Kleinhadersdorf (Lower Austria) is one of the oldest and best researched in Austria. Already during the excavations in the late 1980s it was assumed that it was the burial site of a local population, although a connection to a specific settlement could not be clarified. In order to investigate this theory, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology carried out large-scale magnetic surveys in the surrounding area. The results revealed an extensive multi-phase settlement with at least 40 buildings. Most of the houses are classic medium- to large-sized Linear Pottery buildings with distinct post positions and a northeast-southwest orientation. Further anomalies in the survey area suggest that the cemetery was larger than previously thought. In 2020 and 2021, two of the buildings were investigated in more detail through targeted excavations. The excavations confirmed the accuracy of the geophysical data interpretation and provided evidence of a later occupation of the site in the Lengyel period. Here we present the results of the extensive archaeological investigations and their comprehensive integrative interpretation, discussing the unusual position of the settlement in the landscape, its internal structure and economic foundations.
This study is the first to examine Gordon Childe’s archaeological and ethnological networks in Vienna. The Australian-British prehistorian visited Austria several times between 1922 and 1953 to study prehistoric collections, and he was in close contact with Austrian prehistorians and ethnologists. A central theme of his archaeological research was cultural diffusionism, which played a significant role in ethnology, especially in interwar Vienna. This text’s first part addresses Childe’s contacts with archaeology in Vienna with a focus on his visits there to the Natural History Museum, which also took him to Znojmo in Czechoslovakia. Childe’s relations with Adolf Mahr, director of the National Museum in Dublin, and with Oswald Menghin, who occupied a key position in Austrian prehistoric research during the interwar period, are examined in detail. The second part highlights Childe’s ethnological connections in Vienna. It focuses on the collaboration between Childe and Father Wilhelm Koppers, who in 1936 published an extensive work on the cultural-historical origins of Indo-Europeans to refute Nazi doctrine. The question of what influence the Vienna school of ethnology had on Childe’s concept of diffusion is clarified. For this contribution, numerous correspondences from ten archives were consulted, revealing new insights into the academic networks of these protagonists.
Copyright (c) 2023 ARCHAEOLOGIA AUSTRIACA
A rim fragment of a handmade vessel with intaglio decoration is part of the ceramic finds from tomb complex 4+5 at Kition on the south coast of Cyprus. It can be identified as cup/bowl of the Apennine culture group, which makes it the only Apennine vessel known from the Eastern Mediterranean so far. The distribution of the parallels for the combination of vessel shape and motiv in Italy demonstrates that the main production area of such vessels was Campania. The date of the parallels in the Italian Middle Bronze Age 3 fits with the date of the earliest of the pottery grave goods in tomb complex 4+5, as most of those were produced in LH IIIA2. Presumably during this time the Apennine vessel came from southern Italy – most probably from Campania, where also Mycenaean pottery of the same age has been found – to Cyprus.
Die Besiedlung des Epilengyel-Horizontes in Rannersdorf (NÖ)
The Epilengyel horizon settlement at Rannersdorf, Lower Austria Although house floor plans with linear foundation trenches from the Bisamberg-Oberpullendorf Group (BOG) have been known for a long time, very few such features and their accompanying finds have been described in detail. At the Rannersdorf site, located at the confluence of the Schwechat and the Danube, a detailed typological analysis has been carried out not only of a number of different foundations, but also of pottery from neighbouring, large-scale clay extraction pits. This data has been integrated into the settlement network of the Epilengyel horizon, which has emerged from large-scale rescue excavations of recent decades in eastern Austria, and is further augmented by surface finds. Seen in a continental perspective, the Bisamberg-Oberpullendorf Group lies in the centre of the Central European Epilengyel horizon, which can be fixed by absolute dates to around 4000 BC.
A Late Neolithic burial group from Tödling, KG Gemering, Upper Austria.
In 1998, north of Toedling/Upper Austria, five graves (graves 2-6) of the late Bell Beaker Culture were uncovered during rescue excavations and grave 1 was destroyed. Of the buried dead, one had been laid down in right squat position with the head to the south and four in left squat position with the head to the north. According to the burial custom of the period, these were one female and four male individuals, which was confirmed by anthropological examination. The females from graves 1 and 2 died at a mature age, while the males did not live beyond 30 years. A striking feature of the males is their estimated height of 171-181 cm. In diachronic comparison, the Toedling men were clearly taller than the Corded Ceramics and the Bronze Age population from eastern Austria. As food offerings, mainly meat-rich elements of lamb/ fawn, young pigs and cattle were given to the dead in the grave. In four graves a total of three bowls, four cups and one handle pot were found. Eight bow-shaped and one rod-shaped pendants were found as grave goods, furthermore a dagger, a flint fragment and an underlay stone? The grave goods and the dress components prove the affiliation to the eastern group of the Bell Beaker Culture. The supra-regional comparison of Bell Beaker and Early Bronze Age grave inventories with bow-shaped pendants shows that simple and horizontally perforated originally belonged to the male wear. In these older graves, only one or two specimens are present in the shoulder/upper body and/or pelvic area. Bow-shaped pendants and toggles thus undergo an evolution through history from a functional component of men's dress to a decorative component of women's jewelry.
The question of how the societies of the South Caucasus have appropriated the resource-rich montane landscape areas since the 5th millennium BCE, and in which temporal rhythms this development took place, touches on the question of regional mobility and social as well as economic negotiation of the communities involved. Places such as the large settlement plateau of Dzedzvebi near Kazreti in south-east Georgia probably played an important role as intermediate settlement sites and places of exchange. This role is illuminated against the background of the archaeological investigations carried out since 2007 and their numerous results, which in the valley area of Kazreti was closely connected with the exploitation of ore and the processing of metals, above all the gold of Sakdrisi. The establishment of the permanent settlement on the Dzedzvebi plateau reveals through a magnifying glass the social and economic developments that led to the settlement and integration of the intramontane valleys and plateaus into the cultural activities of the Kura-Araxes temporal communities in the South Caucasus in the period around 3000 BCE.
Multi-Method Archaeological Prospection and Integrated Interpretation investigating the Kreuttal Area in Austria
Since its foundation in 2010, the Vienna-based Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro) has been investigating the Kreuttal, an area located 25 km north of Vienna, as one of several case studies. Different methods have been tested and developed for efficient archaeological prospection. Applied methods include geophysical prospection, airborne and terrestrial laser scanning, aerial photography, soil sampling, field walking and targeted archaeological excavations. A special focus was placed on the development and application of motorised magnetic prospection. Over the past years, considerable parts of the landscape have been surveyed and investigated through field walking, so that recent changes could be documented. This case study highlights how the acquired datasets provide valuable information on various parameters of fundamental archaeological interest. Soil erosion and accumulation have transformed the landscape significantly, affecting the detection and identification of archaeological remains. By comparing all collected datasets, it is possible to analyse the various physical parameters such as topography, soil characteristics and humidity, based on an integrative approach to data interpretation.
The Roman Villa in Oberlienz-Lesendorf, Austria: GPR survey and archaeological interpretation
In 2007, the remains of an extended Roman villa rustica, only partially known from old excavations, were detected through high-resolution GPR measurements at Oberlienz-Lesendorf (Austria). The archaeological prospection was conducted by the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) in collaboration with the Archaeological Institute of the Innsbruck University and ZAMG Archeo Prospections®. Despite the important discovery, the Roman villa in Oberlienz-Lesendorf was not further investigated in the years that followed the GPR survey. A comprehensive 3D archaeological interpretation of the GPR data was conducted by the first author as part of her dissertation work. This 3D mapping of the subsurface features was performed in the 3D environment of ESRI ArcGIS 10. To improve the interpretation process, a geodatabase including 2D and 3D feature classes with predefined fields and domains (list of valid values) has been designed and implemented as an ESRI file geodatabase. Based on the comparisons with similar rural complexes in the region, a 3D virtual reconstruction of the Roman villa was created. The interpretative 3D model has been conceived as an open interpretation, including alternative versions, to stimulate the debate about the possibilities of virtual reconstructions in archaeology and to give input for further interpretations of the investigated complex. The 3D reconstruction was conducted with an interdisciplinary approach, allowing for the development of an optimised workflow based on the efficient integration of ArcGIS with 3D modelling software (3D Studio Max and MeshLab).
The discovery of a slab fibula with a hare-shaped body in Jastrowie (northern Poland) gave rise to the question of the extent of the occurrence of such forms in Europe. Information was collected on a further 135 similar fibulae having 70 more or less precise locations. Typologies taking into account such a pattern were compared. The areas of occurrence of fibulae with hare- or rabbit-shaped bodies were analysed. The problem of identifying the place of their production was presented, drawing attention to the differences in the size of individual specimens. The possibility of the existence of Gothic intermediaries in their distribution in Barbaricum has been pointed out. It has been suggested that their appearance north of the Roman limes may have been related to the Marcoman wars. The presence of such fibulae on the Black Sea may be related to the presence of the 5th Macedonian legion there.
Montanarchäologische Untersuchungen zum prähistorischen Kupferbergbau in den Kitzbüheler Alpen
As early as the 1930s, the archaeologist Richard Pittioni and the mining engineer Ernst Preuschen had been able to investigate prehistoric mining traces in the Kitzbühel Alps near the Kelchalm/Bachalm (Aurach) as well as numerous smelting sites in the Jochberg area. Research by the younger generations of archaeologists subsequently focused primarily on the smelting of chalcopyrite copper, although the origin of the ores mined in the Jochberg areas could not be clearly determined. During archaeological investigations of the FZ HiMAT, located at the University of Innsbruck, it was recently possible to prove prehistoric copper mining in Jochberg for the first time. The visible mining traces extend in the alpine terrain at the ridge area between the Gamshag and the Geißstein east of Jochberg. In addition, as at the Kelchalm/Bachalm, wet-mechanical ore beneficiation can be observed, which had taken place at the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. The newly discovered mining sites with extensive dumps shed new light on the North Tyrolean chalcopyrite mining. Numerous finds of bronze tools (pick tips and fragments of socketed picks) as well as stone tools (Eastern Alpine upper grindstones and netherstones) indicate, from a technological point of view, an influence from the Mitterberg chalcopyrite districts. The mining activities in the Kitzbühel Alps represent a link between the Salzburg districts in the east and those in the Lower Inn Valley (Schwaz-Brixlegg) in the west.
Yersinia pestis in the Early Bronze Age cemetery of Drasenhofen
Im Rahmen einer interdisziplinären Analyse der frühbronzezeitlichen Bestattungen aus Drasenhofen wurde der Nachweis der derzeit ältesten Pesttoten Österreichs erbracht. Die männlichen Individuen, die im Alter von 23-30 bzw. 22-27 Jahren verstarben, wurden nicht weit voneinander im nordöstlichsten bzw. südöstlichsten Grab des insgesamt 22 Gräber umfassenden Reihengräberfeldes bestattet. Trotz der räumlichen und zeitlichen Nähe wiesen die genetischen Pathogenanalysen zwei unterschiedliche Stämme von Pestbakterien (Yersinia pestis) nach. Es handelt sich also nicht um eine Infektion, die innerhalb der bronzezeitlichen Gruppe weitergegeben wurde, sondern um zwei verschiedene Infektionsereignisse. In diesem Artikel werden die phylogenetischen Positionen der beiden Y. pestis Stämme im Vergleich zu anderen bislang bekannten urgeschichtlichen, historischen und modernen Pestgenomen dargestellt, biologische Grundlagen möglicher Übertragungswege diskutiert und im Vergleich mit ähnlichen anthropologischen und archäologischen Kontexten ein Versuch einer kulturhistorischen Einordnung unternommen.
Steinhügel im Wörthersee und Ossiacher See
In the Swiss part of Lake Constance, depth measurements led to the discovery of 170 stone structures ("Hügeli"). Archaeological investigations did not provide a clear interpretation and dating, the speculations ranged from prehistoric burial places to astronomical systems. The media reported on the “Stonehenge from Lake Constance”. Similar cairns have long been known from Lake Zug (Switzerland), Wörthersee and Ossiacher See (Carinthia, Austria). In the Carinthian lakes they were first described in 1864 in the course of pile dwelling research. Their function is clearly to be found in the area of fisheries. The stones were piled up on the ice in winter, collapsed in spring and then served as spawning grounds to attract fish, which thus became prey. It is not possible to date the artificially raised cairns.
New multi-disciplinary data from the Neolithic in Serbia
The excavations at Svinjarička Čuka in the South Morava Valley in Serbia are presented with new primary data from the field and related material and scientific analyses. Newly recovered architectural remains from the classical Starčevo period revealed a variety of domestic features, so far belonging to an earlier and later occupation phase at the river terrace dating between 5700/5600 and 5500 calBC. Selected domestic contexts are presented in details of stratigraphy and certain materials, including one potential “Starčevo house”. Archaeological and scientific analyses are discussed and contextualized within the Neolithisation process in the chapters of new radiocarbon data and their Bayesian modelling, pottery studies, chipped stones and their raw material analyses, grinding kits, animal remains, archaeobotanical results and charcoal analyses. The later occupation at the site is presented with new results for the Middle and Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age including domestic contexts, radiocarbon data and materials.
Copyright (c) 2022 ARCHAEOLOGIA AUSTRIACA
Stratigraphy from Topography II - The practical application of the Harris Matrix for the GIS-based spatio-temporal archaeological interpretation of topographical data.
Traces of human activity preserved in ground surface relief can be documented using airborne laser scanning (ALS). Various visualization techniques for ALS-based digital terrain models help to enhance the micro relief and display abundant information about the earthworks of settlements, pathways, field systems, burial grounds and the like. Such remains can express a complex pattern of intersecting and overlapping relief features produced by millennia of human activity. To ‘read’, or better decipher, this palimpsest or “messiness”, archaeological features must be classified, and their temporal relationship determined during interpretative mapping. While much interpretation of relief features is based on the relatively straightforward analysis of parameters like shape, morphology, topographical location or patterning, chronological sequencing of relief features can be very challenging. In this paper we propose a solution for the compilation of relative chronological sequences when mapping relief features from topographic data. We combine an interactive GIS-based archaeological interpretation with the creation of a stratigraphic sequence known as a Harris Matrix, which is extended by an interval based hierarchical time model. This allows individual features and groups of features to be assigned to user-defined chronological periods and phases. The features extracted from the topographic data are grouped in a final Harris Matrix according to their temporal relations and can be translated into period or phase maps within the GIS environment. The value of this approach is demonstrated in a case study from Lower Austria, a complex archaeological landscape within which more than 1,450 archaeological relief features have been mapped into a coherent spatio-temporal model. The results give a detailed insight into the development of an archaeological landscape over at least 2,500 years, broken down into 10 periods, and have helped to answer specific historical questions. The approach presented here represents a starting point for further targeted analysis and investigation to provide an absolute chronological framework.
Stratigraphy from Topography I – Theoretical and Practical Considerations for the Application of the Harris Matrix for the GIS-based Spatio-temporal Archaeological Interpretation of Topographical Data
The compilation of an archaeological stratigraphy is usually associated with an archaeological excavation. We show that the principles of archaeological stratigraphy can be extended to the analysis of prospecting data. Specifically, we present a theoretical basis for archaeological stratigraphy with particular reference to the analysis of topographic data from airborne laser scans (ALS). Building on previous approaches to archaeological stratigraphy, we present an interval-based time model for constructing a stratigraphic sequence based on a combination of the spatial and temporal parameters of an archaeological stratification. Moving from an approach based on single points in time to a relative chronological structuring of a stratigraphic sequence, we postulate the use of an interval-based approach, based on the Allen Interval Algebra. For this purpose, existing software for the creation of a stratigraphic sequence (Harris Matrix) has been extended, which allows a relative chronological layout of the stratigraphic sequence in combination with an absolute chronological timeline. By linking this tool to a GIS, a comprehensible and digital creation of period and phase maps based on a spatio-temporal analysis of the underlying topographic data is enabled. The developed system provides a consistent visual representation, which means that a correct stratigraphic layout is maintained while the units of the stratigraphic sequence are aligned with the intervals of the time model.
Die Mahl-und Schleifsteinreste der bandkeramischen Siedlung von Mold, Niederösterreich
In the LBK settlement of Mold 56 quern-fragments and 21 grinding stone fragments were distributed most unevenly around the different houses. Beside the strong damages on the pits by erosion there is a strong relation between the evidence of botanical macro remains and of quern-fragments in the inventory of the houses, but quern-fragments never are found in the pits with the highest amount of cereal remains. The distribution of quern rests doesn’t indicate clearly if these implements were used in- or outside the houses and in which area. Within the definable rests of querns from Mold 30 quern slabs dominate over only 11 grinders. This relation of the quern parts is quite similar in inventories of Bohemia, Moravia and Schwanfeld (Bavaria), but most different in those of the western part of the LBK. The weight and the measurements of the quern fragments from Mold fit well within the variability known from many LBK settlements. Use traces in different directions indicate a secondary use of the fragments only on three rests of querns as well as of grinding-stones. This gives a portion of 5.35% slightly below the mean of 1.37 – 13% from inventories of 12 LBK-sites where sufficient numbers are known. In Mold there are four times red colour rests and eight times black colour rests on the fragments which may indicate secondary use of the items as well. Similar rests of mineral colours are proven from nearly all LBK sites in varying numbers. All quern fragments of Mold show at least two cut marks, which indicate destructive impacts. The intensity of fragmentation differs between the rests of quern slabs and grinders, the last all show a breaking at right angle – very similar to the broken grinders from the settlements in the Paris basin. The most probable intentional destruction of the querns of Mold is best to compare to situations known from Herxheim (Palatinate, Germany) and Geleen-Janskamperveld (Netherlands). These actions of destruction may be understood as the outcome of a mortuary ritual for the items. In Mold the systematic search of refitting pieces included all quern-fragments and resulted in only four fragments fitting together. Three of them came of far-out parts of pits up to 9 m distance. At the moment this fact seems to be a unique situation within the LBK. It may be due to a ritual separation of the fragments as supposed for similar situations in the Neolithic of Greece. The final part tries to feel out the estimation of the querns by the people living in the LBK settlements. The base for this attempt are the analyses of the querns from Mold in comparison to many other LBK inventories given above plus the consideration of the procurement of the raw materials, the deposition of querns and the evidence of them in the graveyards. As result one gets the impression that people in the different regions of the LBK had varying attitudes to their essential tool for the preparation of food. While in some settlements – as Mold – people searched for high quality material even from big distances others used almost suitable rocks from the nearer surroundings. The quern fragments, which are found as grave furniture mostly but not everywhere more often for men than women, are difficult to interpret. They might not have be seen as querns anymore but as grinding plates, because there are very often colour rests indicating a secondary use. The disposal of the querns and their fragments was done in most varying ways showing different estimation by people. While in some sites the fragments of outworn querns were most carelessly thrown away (especially in Bavarian sites), in other places the intentionally destroyed querns were buried with ochre or the complete querns deposited. In Mold the intentional destruction of the querns and the separation of the fragments seems to be most intense around the houses of the last phase of the settlement. This fact might be due to a ritual connected with the abandonment of the site. A dangerous disease may have been the cause which required a complete extinction of the tools used by the sick or perished persons.