Hallstatt has always been internationally networked

Modern research methods enable scientists to uncover more and more details about the millennia-old settlement culture in Hallstatt. The archaeometallurgist Mathias Mehofer from the University of Vienna, together with researchers from the Natural History Museum Vienna, has systematically examined Hallstatt’s Iron Age metal imports for the first time in a two-year research project. Tools made of bronze (copper and tin) and later iron were used intensively in mining.

The scientists analyzed grave goods from the eighth to fourth centuries BC that were discovered in the Hallstatt burial ground. “The grave finds from Hallstatt are among the most important archaeological finds in Europe,” says Karina Grömer from the Natural History Museum Vienna. Using X-ray fluorescence and mass spectrometer analyses, the researchers recorded the geochemical fingerprint of the copper.

“Our analyzes show that the supply networks for copper have changed over the centuries,” says Mehofer. Chalcopyrite-based copper circulated in Hallstatt during the later Bronze Age (end of the 2nd millennium BC), which probably came from the Hochkönig area (Salzburg). From 900 BC In contrast, in the early Iron Age, the people of Hallstatt worked with pale ore copper, the origin of which still needs to be researched. In addition, the tin content of the bronze fell continuously during this phase, which indicates a shortage of the raw material. According to Mehofer, the people of Hallstatt obtained the tin from distant deposits such as Cornwall, Spain or Central Asia. “We can conclude from the analyzes that these long-distance trading networks also changed,” says the researcher. Further analyzes should now help to determine the trade networks of the prehistoric Hallstatt residents. The gold treasure that was found on the northern shore of Lake Hallstatt should also make a contribution to this.

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