Contact: Prof. Dr. Thomas Stöllner
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The Eastern Alps were the most important mining area for copper ore during the Bronze Age. The findings of the mining areas at the Mitterberg - between Mühlbach am Hochkönig, Bischofshofen and St. Johann im Pongau - are famous among researchers. Nowhere else are there so many well-preserved traces of ancient mining.
The Mitterberg mining district is the largest copper ore deposit in the Eastern Alps. It also extends to the ore veins of the southern district (Brander, Burgschweig and Birkstein veins) and those of the eastern district (Winkel and Buchberg veins).
The genesis of the deposit is complex: in principle, we distinguish between the mineralisations that are embedded in the shale in parallel layers - such as in the southern district - and those that were deposited unconformably in a tectonic fault of the so-called violet series, such as the main vein at the Mitterberg. The chalcopyrite veins, which generally consist of several parallel mineralisations, are usually only a few decimetres thick, but up to 4 metres thick in places. Modern utilisation of the deposit began in 1827 and had to be discontinued in 1977 due to falling copper prices. An idea of the total amount of copper mined can be developed on the basis of the seiger cracks produced by the Mitterberg copper company: Around 24000 tonnes of black copper have been traded throughout Europe. Analyses of prehistoric bronzes have shown that they were made of ‘Mitterberg-type’ copper, especially in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC.
Despite the intensive and long history of research, many questions about the technology, subsistence and economic integration of the Mitterberg mining operation in its Alpine environment remain unanswered to this day. The sheer size of the mining district, the complex landscape structure and the diversity of the Copper to Bronze Age mining artefacts alone have so far prevented a comprehensive research strategy.
The DBM has been researching the copper mine at Arthurstollen since 2002 and has subsequently been able to extend its activities to the entire mining landscape. We are particularly interested in the landscape integration of the alpine economic operation against the background of its logistics, organisation and development. This is the only way to collect the necessary framework data for economic archaeological modelling. Furthermore, the focus is on questions relating to mining technology, processing and mining expertise: What operating times should be taken into account? And how costly was the mining process?
Prospections and exploratory excavations have also provided detailed insights into the surface operating points: We have been particularly interested in the first stages of finer ore processing, especially centralised wet processing sites. Excavations have now been underway for around 10 years at the large-scale ore processing site in Sulzbachmoos at Troiboden. After all, the smelting sites allow us to access the question of how often and with what intensity smelting was carried out - ultimately even how many furnace campaigns were undertaken and what quantities of copper were produced. The dating of smelting sites and other above-ground operating points is essential for understanding the entire area. For the first time, an overall assessment of the diachronic changes in production intensity over the entire period of operation will be attempted.
This is why we use data from vegetation history: on the one hand, it helps us to date the archaeological findings to the exact year, and on the other hand, it provides us with information on the history of the use of the forest. Wood was an important source of energy and indispensable as a raw material for the production of pit timbers in mining.
We are also working on geochemical and mineralogical characterisations of the individual ore veins. These provenance studies provide us with more detailed insights into regional and interregional trade.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Stöllner
Professor for Pre- and Protohistory
Institut of Archaeological Studies
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Am Bergbaumuseum 31, 44791 Bochum
Room: 0.3.1a
Phone: +49 (0)234 32-22546
Email: thomas.stoellner@rub.de oder thomas.stoellner@bergbaumuseum.de
Andre Blömeke (DBM and RUB), Nicole Boenke (RUB), Jennifer Garner (DBM), Erica Hanning (LEIZA), Sarah Horst (DBM and RUB), Kurt Nicolussi (Uni Innsbruck), Eva Neuber (DBM and RUB), Klaus Oeggl (Uni Innsbruck), Peter Thomas (DBM), BTU Cottbus and RUB students.
Dissertations:
Erica Hanning: "Smelting of Sulfidic Ore During the Bronze Age in the Eastern Alpine Region: A Mining, Archaeological, and Experimental Approach".
Dissertations:
Peter Thomas: "Studien zu den bronzezeitlichen Bergbauhölzern im Mitterberger Gebiet" (Philipps-Universität Marburg ).
Master Theses:
Sarah Horst: "Untersuchungen zu den Holzgeräten der bronzezeitlichen Aufbereitungsanlage am Troiboden im Mitterberg-Gebiet" (Ruhr-Universität Bochum 2019).
Eva Neuber: "Untersuchungen zur Holzbearbeitung und Nutzung der Aufbereitungskästen der bronzezeitlichen Aufbereitungsanlage am Troiboden im Mitterberg-Gebiet" (Ruhr-Universität Bochum 2019).
Patricia Bock: "Bronzezeitliche Besiedlung in den Bergbauzonen des Mitterberggebietes" (Ruhr-Universität Bochum 2018).
Sabrina Kluwe: "Die bronzezeitliche Keramik der Grabung Höch (Gemeinde St. Johann) im Kontext der Wirtschaftsware im Kupferbergbaurevier des Salzach-Pongau" (Ruhr-Universität Bochum 2013).
The project is being run in cooperation with the Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum.
The collaborative research centre ‘HiMAT’ (‘The History of Mining Activities in the Tyrol and Adjacent Areas - Impact on Enviromment and Human Societies’) facilitated a large-scale Mitterberg project between 2007 and 2012. HiMAT combined a total of 14 projects between 2007 and 2011 and was funded by the Fond zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung Österreich (FWF). Various follow-up projects have ensured the continuation of research activities since 2011, with the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft an international research consortium between Germany, Austria and Switzerland (so-called D-A-CH project (2014-2018)).
Das Projekt läuft in Kooperation mit dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum.
Der Sonderforschungsbereich „HiMAT“ („The History of Mining Activities in the Tyrol and Adjacent Areas - Impact on Enviromment and Human Societies“) ermöglichte zwischen 2007 und 2012 ein groß angelegtes Projekt Mitterberg. HiMAT verband zwischen 2007 und 2011 insgesamt 14 Projekte und wurde durch den Fond zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung Österreich (FWF) gefördert. Diverse Nachfolgeprojekte sichern seit 2011 die Fortführung der Forschungsaktivitäten, So förderte die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ein internationales Forschungskonsortium zwischen Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz (sog. D-A-CH-Projekt (2014-2018).
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Last update: Dec 09, 2024
