Peter Trebsche’s research while affiliated with University of Innsbruck and other places

Archaeological features without macro-finds (i.e. finds visible with the naked eye) represent a common phenomenon that poses considerable methodological problems in interpretation. To tackle these problems, we present an approach based on integrating micro-archaeological methods and macro-observations to help elucidate ‘invisible’ activities or at least to exclude certain others. Specifically, we combine micromorphological and micro-debris analyses with the scarce macro-finds and their fragmentation degree to clarify whether the lack of evidence for certain activities really reflects their absence or merely bad preservation conditions. This study focuses on a Late Iron Age ‘empty’ enclosure excavated in the settlement site of Haselbach, Lower Austria. ‘Empty’ square enclosures of the La Tène Culture have been controversially interpreted as either sanctuaries, domestic buildings or burial enclosures, although these interpretations were rarely supported by any material evidence. Using a multi-proxy approach enables us to reconstruct the formation processes of the Haselbach feature as well as to rule out a range of activities, although a clear definition of its primary function was not reached. Based on our case study, we propose a research protocol that can be applied to research on similar ‘empty’ features in order to better validate their functional interpretations.

The first part of our research focuses on the analysis of animal remains (>6000 identified specimens, NISP) from the Middle La Tène central settlement Haselbach in Lower Austria, one of the largest investigated archaeozoological assemblages of present-day Austria. Based on the age and sex profiles, the faunal assemblage from Haselbach shows characteristics of urbanization and centralization and bears striking similarities to the archaeozoological material of the central settlement of Roseldorf (Lower Austria), some 35 km northwest of Haselbach. The second part of our research discusses the historical and regional context of the archaeozoological results from Haselbach and compares them with other sites, based on a detailed review of published archaeozoological data from the La Tène period (c. 450 BC to the end of the first century BC). In total, 55 faunal assemblages from 46 sites in nine countries in Central Europe, representing different types of sites (lowland settlements, hilltop settlements, central settlements, oppida, assemblages of ritual activity, and mining sites) were examined. The synthesis of the archaeozoological data exhibits different husbandry strategies and suggests major changes, especially during the Middle La Tène period indicating agricultural intensification. The differences in the biological profiles of the major domesticated species are of crucial importance to better understand aspects of socio-economic organization; especially in the case of cattle, age and sex profiles are used to distinguish different patterns of cattle husbandry. Finally, morphometric and recent genetic analyses on cattle bones and teeth from La Tène sites in Central Europe provide new insights into the complex socio-economic behavior as well as long-distance networks, involving animal supply and mobility in an exciting period of change involving centralization and increasing influence from the South during the pre-Roman late Iron Age.

On the Way from or to Hallstatt? New Research on the Role of the Hallstatt Period Lakeside Settlement in Traunkirchen (Bez. Gmunden/AT) The only known lakeside settlement of the Hallstatt period in Austria is located on a peninsula of Lake Traunsee. Due to its geographic location as well as grave and settlement fnds, a function in the trade of salt from the Hallstatt salt mines, located about 33km south of Traunkirchen, has long been assumed. By means of minimally invasive surveys under water and on land, it was possible in 2020 and 2021 to clarify the extent and thickness of the Early Iron Age settlement layers in Traunkirchen and their exact dating. The drillings provide evidence of a former bay of Lake Traunsee, which offered an ideal natural harbour at the tip of the exposed peninsula. Based on the new survey results and extensive research, it becomes apparent that Traunkirchen did not acquire its importance during the Hallstatt period primarily as a reloading point in transporting salt, but rather as a starting point for supplying the salt mines with food and as a base for load carriers, pack animals or boatmen.

The Late Bronze Age site of Prigglitz-Gasteil provides a wealth of proxies for the reconstruction of wood use, past vegetation, and forest management at a copper production site. In this paper we have combined charcoal analyses from domestic contexts, an investigation of mining timbers found in the backfill of the opencast copper ore mine, and a preliminary study of a pollen profile from the nearby Saubachgraben mire. The com-plementary information from these different contexts allowed a reconstruction of the impact of settlement and mining activities on the natural mixed forest around the site, chiefly composed of beech, spruce, and fir. Forest clearing affected mainly spruce. Despite the dominance of spruce among the conifers, however, fir wood was exclusively selected for the production of mining timbers, which were used to support the opencast mine walls or for water management constructions. The gathering of firewood for domestic hearths and metal workshop furnaces followed the principle of least effort, leading to a secondary succession with pioneer spe-cies in the immediate surroundings of the mining settlement. The investigated wood and charcoal finds indi-cated a systematic and selective use of the wood species occurring in the surrounding forest. At the current state of the investigations, there is no evidence of scarcity or shortage in the wood supply.

Prehistoric mines are often too large and too deep for conventional archaeological excavations. Non‐destructive and minimally invasive methods of prospection can help to overcome these limits. Our case study of a Late Bronze Age opencast mine (ca. 1050 to 780 BC) shows the potential of geophysical prospection methods combined with core drillings. For the reconstruction of this mine, we combined electrical resistivity and induced polarization (IP) tomography, seismic refraction tomography (SRT) and ground penetrating radar (GPR). The geophysical data were collected based on an orthogonal grid of 10 longitudinal and transverse profiles, laid out over an area of ~330 × 300 m. The profiles allowed a three‐dimensional interpolation of the geological units, the mining dumps, the mining areas and the residual mineralization. Additionally, two deep cores were drilled to ground‐truth the geophysical prospection results. They provided information about the stratification at intersections of the measurement grid, and this proved crucial for validating the interpreted geophysical profiles. Each geophysical method applied provided different information for the reconstruction of the site: the electrical resistivity tomography offered the best clues as to the locations of the geological units and the dumps, the seismic refraction tomography visualized the transition between the dump or backfill layers and the underlying bedrock, and the IP measurements revealed residual mineralization. The georadar measurements, on the other hand, did not contribute to the interpretation owing to the limited depth of penetration. Based on the combination of borehole and geophysical data, it was possible to develop a hypothetical model of an open‐pit mine for copper ore that developed in three phases (mines A–C) during the Late Bronze Age. Without the control provided by the core drillings, one of the mining areas (mine A) could not have been correctly identified in the geophysical prospections.

An international research project (FWF I-1693) recently finished investigating archaeological sites in the hinterland of the lake pile dwelling sites of Mondsee and Attersee in Oberösterreich (Upper Austria), with the goal of reconstructing the spatial networks of Copper Age (agri-)cultural landscapes and human-environmental interactions in the region. Charred plant macroremains from the two hinterland sites of Lenzing-Burgstall (1,517 plant macrofossil finds in total) and Ansfelden-Burgwiese (24,115 total finds) from Copper Age (= Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic) cultural layers were analysed as a contribution towards elucidating the agricultural practices and food choices of the inhabitants. Despite the generally poor state of preservation at Lenzing-Burgstall, a rich spectrum of cultivated crops with barley, einkorn and emmer wheats, and lentil, together with surprisingly high quantities of hazelnut shell fragments were identified. The site of Ansfelden-Burgwiese, on the other hand, contributed not only additional taxa (free-threshing wheat and Triticum cf. timopheevii) to the spectrum, but also the earliest evidence for Triticum spelta (spelt) in the region so far.