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Hallstatt in the
Dachstein Mountains of the Austrian Alps is probably best known for its
prehistoric cemetery, from which the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture derives
its name. Between 1846-1864 Johann Georg Ramsauer, director of the salt mines
at Hallstatt, excavated more than 990 richly furnished graves. Paul Reinecke
(1872-1958) then used these finds to develop a chronology based on a comparison
of the combination of artifacts within the individual burials. These graves
contained Bronze Age and early Iron Age weapons and jewelry. Using material
from the abundant early Iron Age burials, Reinecke defined the periods Hallstatt
C and D, which today are generally accepted divisions of the early Iron Age
of Central Europe (ca. 750-475 BC).
The nearby Hallstatt
salt mine, which was exploited in late medieval times (after AD 1311), has
since revealed material left behind by prehistoric miners, including bodies
of possible accident victims. After the discovery of the adjacent cemetery,
it became clear that there probably was a connection between the prehistoric
mining activities and the graveyard, which mainly contained the bodies of
middle-aged men.
More recent
investigations in the salt mine have revealed numerous well-preserved items
of the Bronze and Iron Age due to the properties of the salt environment.
These included thousands of pinewood chips (for lighting the mine galleries);
pieces of woolen textiles; fur and leather caps; leather shoes; and leather
carrying baskets (to transport the salt). Other items include ropes and cords
made of grass and bast (to pull up larger plates of salt); wooden handles
for metal picks; wooden shovels; and leftovers of food. These varied items
provide insight into the methods used in mining, wood and leather processing,
and rope production.
Since most of the material
was deposited in the mine between 1400 and 600 BC, covering the Middle Bronze
Age and the Early Iron Age, it is evident that mining activities began long
before the interments in Hallstatt cemetery. Three different mine tracts
could be determin ed: the north group, which was in use between 1400 and 800
BC (Middle and Late Bronze Age); the east group exploited between ca. 800-400
BC (Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age), and a younger west group around AD 0.
Mining activities within the east group apparently decreased after 600 BC,
perhaps due to problems of infiltrating water, which finally forced closing
the mine after 400 BC.
Fig.1: The Bronze Age staircase in the Hallstatt salt mine during
excavation (photo: Hans Reschreiter).
Recent research
carried out by Hans Reschreiter of the Natural History Museum in Vienna has
led to the discovery of a large wooden staircase, clearly revealing the skills
of Bronze Age carpenters. This is the oldest known staircase in Europe, dating
back to the 13th millennium BC. It consists of spruce and fir trunks, each
20 cm thick, connected by flat and triangular pieces of wood comprising the
steps (fig.1). The steps are 1 m wide and carefully fit into slits carved
into the trunks. Dendrochronological analysis shows that all the wood in
the staircase was cut within the same year.
The staircase is
situated at the lower end of a Bronze Age shaft, from which horizontally
oriented galleries branch off. Such Late Bronze Age shafts of the Hallstatt
salt mine could reach well below 100 m into the mountain. During the Early
Iron Age, other mining methods included the excavation of huge horizontal
halls, which followed the course of the best salt layers. These underground
halls could reach dimensions of more than 170 m in length, 10-20 m in width,
and 20 m in height.
Little in the way
of Bronze and Iron Age settlement has been found in the direct vicinity of
these two sites, perhaps because of a giant rockfall which covered parts
of the region during the 4th century BC. A survey of the surrounding Dachstein
Mountains and their alpine pastures undertaken since the 1980s, however,
has shed new light on the miners' possible subsistence strategies. At an
elevation of 1600-2100 m a.s.l. more than twenty campsites of the Middle
and Late Bronze Age have been discovered, with stone house foundations (probably
log cabins), hearths, bones of domestic animals (cattle, pigs, horses, and
goats or sheep) and other artifacts. Perhaps these alpine pastural farming
sites, which were situated above the treeline and therefore did not need
to be cleared, supplied the workers of the Bronze Age salt mine with
meat.
References:
Archäologische Sensation im Salzberg von
Hallstatt: Älteste Holzstiege Europas gefunden. Press release, 10/12/04,
Nat. History Museum Vienna and the Salien Austria AG; Barth, F. E. 1998.
"Bronzezeitliche Salzgewinnung in Hallstatt." In: Hänsel B. (ed.): Mensch
und Umwelt in der Bronzezeit Europas: pp. 123-128. Kiel; Cerwinka, G. and
F. Mandl (eds.). 1996. Dachstein. Vier Jahrtausende Almen im Hochgebirge.
Vol. 1. Gröbming; Cerwinka, G. and F. Mandl (eds). 1998. Dachstein.
Vier Jahrtausende Almen im Hochgebirge. Vol. 2. Haus i.E.
This article appears on pages 12-13 in Vol.4 No.2 of Athena
Review.
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