Prehistoric Austria

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Lower Paleolithic

The first hominids - representatives of the species Homo erectus - appeared in Europe only about 700 thousand years ago. Findings related to them were found, in particular, on the territory of Hungary, neighboring Austria.

Middle Paleolithic

During the last ice age, the Alps were covered with glaciers and for the most part inaccessible to humans. The oldest traces of hominids in Austria date back to the Middle Paleolithic era , when Neanderthals lived in Europe. Traces of Neanderthals , dating back about 70,000 years ago, were discovered in the Gudenus Cave in northwestern Lower Austria .

Upper Paleolithic

Venus of Willendorf , one of the " Paleolithic Venus ." About 25,000 liters. BC er

In the same Lower Austria made many finds relating to the Upper Paleolithic , of which the most famous finds in the Wachau . Two works of primitive art belong to the Upper Paleolithic: “ Venus of Galgenberg ” from Strötzing / Krems-Reberg (32,000 years ago, relief plastic, 7.2 cm, amphibolite - slate ) and Venus of Willendorf (26,000 years ago, 11 cm, limestone ).

Discovered in Austria in 2005, the burial of three babies of the Homo sapiens species, including the burial of two twin babies covered with a mammoth humerus, in the late Palaeolithic site of Krems Wachtberg ( de: Krems-Wachtberg (archäologischer Fundplatz) ) in the village of Vakhtberg near the city of Kremms -on the Danube since the time of the Gravettian culture , about 27 thousand years old ( radiocarbon dating ) are the oldest known human burial grounds in Austria ^[1] .

Mesolithic

Mesolithic - the transition period from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture - is represented in Austria by a few finds: tools from the Bodensee area and the Rhine Valley, burial in Elsbethen , microliths .

Neolithic

In the Neolithic era, all regions of Austria were gradually settled, where there was an opportunity for farming or in which raw materials were available. The oldest agricultural settlement to date, archaeologists discovered in Brunn am Gebirge , it belonged to the culture of linear-tape ceramics . The oldest quarry for the hornfel , found at the top of Mauer-Anthöshee in Vienna, also dates back to this time. In the subsequent period, a high density of settlements of Lendell culture was observed , during the times of which several well-known circular ditches were built in Lower Austria.

Copper Age

The oldest copper objects originate from the Middle Danube lowland , in particular, the treasure from Stolhof ( Hoe-Vand commune, Lower Austria ). In eastern Austria, high-altitude settlements are common at this time. In the Copper Age, in search of raw materials, especially copper, intraalpine regions were also developed. An important find is the mummy Ötzi - the remains of a man who lived around 3300 BC, well preserved in the alpine glaciers. er The people of Mondsee culture lived in pile structures on alpine lakes; This culture was destroyed by the lake tsunami due to an earthquake.

Bronze Age

Since the beginning of the Bronze Age, fortified walls have increasingly emerged, which serve not only as a symbol of power, but also to protect the main centers for the processing of copper and tin. The flourishing trade in raw materials and semi-finished products was reflected in the design of burials ( Pitten , Franzhausen , Lower Austria ). During the time of the burial urns field culture , salt mining began north of Hallstatt.

Iron Age

The Iron Age on the territory of Austria is characterized by the influence of Mediterranean civilizations , as well as the peoples who came from the Eastern European steppes. There is a transition from Hallstatt to the later Latin culture, where the Celtic element prevailed, but which also included the Thracians in its zone of influence.

Hallstatt Culture

Leather shoes Hallstatt culture, 800-400 years. BC er

The oldest period of the Iron Age in most parts of Europe is named after the famous site of finds in Austria Hallstatt in Upper Austria . Celts and Illyrians dominated the Hallstatt culture.

The western and eastern circles of the Hallstatt culture are separated by the course of the rivers Enns , Ibs and Inn . The West Hallstatt Circle maintained contact with the Greek colonies on the coast of Liguria. In the Alps, the Hallstatt culture was in contact with Etruscans and a number of other cultures that were under Greek influence. The Eastern Hallstatt Circle maintained contacts with the steppe peoples who lived in the region from the Carpathians to the southern Russian steppes.

One of the main products of the Hallstatt culture was salt, which was abundant in its lands. Imported luxury items from the regions of the North and Baltic Seas to Africa are found in the Hallstatt tombs. The oldest sample of wine in Austria was found in the burial mound in Zagersdorf ( Burgenland ). Monument of religious art is found in Styria Stretveg cult carriage .

Laten culture

The late Iron Age is dominated by the Laten culture . Unlike the Hallstatt, the Illyrians no longer belong to it, but the Balkan peoples to the east of Austria, the Thracians, the Dacians, and the Getae, fall into its sphere of influence. Of the Celts, it was not all Celtic peoples, but only speakers of R-Celtic languages.

For the first time, the names of the peoples of this epoch are becoming known (mainly from Roman and Greek sources). At this time, in the south and east of modern Austria, the first state formation of Norik arose, uniting several different Celtic tribes headed by Noriks. The west of Austria was inhabited by retic tribes of similar origin to the Etruscans (archaeological culture of Fritzens-Sanzeno ).

Celtic salt metropolises become Durrnberg and Hallein (now the federal state of Salzburg). In eastern Austria, the mining of iron in Oberpullendorf (Burgenland) is flourishing, from where the Romans received Noricus iron, which is so valuable to them. Fortified settlements on the heights ( opididum ), such as, for example, on Mount Magdalensberg (Carinthia), near Schwarzenbach or on Mount Brownsberg near Heinburg-on-the-Danube (not far from the future Roman city of Carnunta ), become centers of social life.

Notes

↑ Ancient Stone Age people buried newborn babies with honors.

Literature

Archäologische Eisenforschung in Europa. WAB 59, Eisenstadt 1977. ISBN 3-85405-051-8
de: Karl Kaus , Burgenland. Archäologie und Landeskunde, Opera selecta. Wissenschaftliche Arbeiten aus dem Burgenland, (WAB) 114, 2006. ISBN 3-85405-153-0
Luis D. Nebelsick - Alexandrine Eibner - Ernst Lauermann - Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer, Die Hallstattkultur im Osten Österreich. Hg. als: Forschungsberichte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Bd. 18 (Öster. Ges. F. Ur- und Frühg.) Bzw. Wiss Schriftenreihe NÖ Bd. 106/107/108/109, 1997. ISBN 3-85326-053-5
Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer, Die Kelten im Osten Österreichs. Hg. als: Forschungsgberichte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Bd. 14 (Öster. Ges. F. Ur- u. Frühg.) Bzw. Wiss Schriftenreihe NÖ, Bd. 92/93/94. St. Pölten 1992. ISBN 3-85326-949-4
Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer, Die Bronzezeit im Osten Österreichs. Hg. als: Forschungsgberichte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Bd. 16 (Öster. Ges. F. Ur- u. Frühg.) Bzw. Wiss Schriftenreihe NÖ, Bd. 98/99/100/101. St. Pölten 1994. ISBN 3-85326-004-7
Christine Neugebauer-Maresch, Altsteinzeit im Osten Österreichs. Hg. als: Forschungsgberichte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Bd. 15 (Öster. Ges. F. Ur- u. Frühg.) Wiss. Schriftenreihe NÖ, Bd. 95/96/97. St. Pölten 1993. ISBN 3-85326-981-8
de: Sigrid Strohschneider-Laue , Abenteuer Urgeschichte. Wien 1995. ISBN 3-215-11795-9
Otto H. Urban, Wegweiser in die Urgeschichte Österreichs. Wien 1989. ISBN 3-215-06230-5
Otto H. Urban, Der lange Weg zur Geschichte. Die Urgeschichte Österreichs, Wien 2000. ISBN 3-8000-3773-4

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Institut für Ur- & Frühgeschichte der Universität Wien

[1] Ancient Stone Age people buried newborn babies with honors.