Klaus Oeggl

Late-Holocene land-use history and environmental changes at the high altitudes of St Antönien (Switzerland, Northern Alps): Combined evidence from pollen, soil and tree-ring analyses

In climatically sensitive regions such as the Northern Alps, changes in climate and land use have a strong impact on landscapes, vegetation, animals and humans. Multidisciplinary investigations in the high St Antönien Valley (Switzerland) at 1400—3000 m a.s.l. have generated a reconstruction of land-use history. Humans began affecting the landscape of this high mountain region during the Bronze Age. Multiproxy palaeoenvironmental studies show that the present cultural landscape of the valley has been the result of long-term human environmental interactions. Pollen, soil and tree analyses were combined with archaeological and historical archives to provide strong evidence of the complexity of the high-mountain land-use system over the last 3500 years. Phases of agro-pastoral activity from Bronze Age (around 1300 BC), Iron Age (800—15 BC), Roman Period (15 BC—AD 450) and Middle Ages (AD 450—1500) are linked to climate and economic, social and cultural developments. Our results reveal that expansions of pasture land, in combination with climatic fluctuations, led to pronounced ecological changes in St Antönien Valley. Humans adjusted land-use practices according to changing environmental conditions. In this context, the use of fire was an important factor in land management. Forest clearances reached maximum intensity during the late Middle Ages (AD 1300—1500) and triggered natural catastrophes that were amplified during the most severe environmental phase (AD 1600—1850) of the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA).

Mosses and the Tyrolean Iceman's Southern Provenance

The Tyrolean Iceman’s clothes have yielded remains of a total of 30 different bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), at least nine of which could not have grown at the great altitude of the death site. Most crucial are the two low altitude woodland mosses Neckera complanata and N. crispa. Their distribution patterns in Tyrol indicate strongly that the Iceman came from the south (modern Italy) rather than the north (Austria).

Evidence for Early Human Presence at High Altitude in the Ötztal Alps (Austria/Italy)

The present article reports on the results and interpretation of a total of 235 radiocarbon dates from Alpine sites in the Otztal region. Out of these, 88 age determinations were performed on equipment and artifacts associated with the Neolithic Iceman (discovered in 1991), and on a variety of plant and animal specimens collected at his discovery site. Since the material was dispersed over a larger area, 14 C dates were important to establish the deposition time of the respective samples. About half of the samples fall into the time period where the Iceman lived, documenting synchronous deposition, whereas the others spread out over several thousand years before and after his lifetime. The other set of samples (147) were collected along the Otztal Valley to the north, with a few samples collected also south of the Alpine watershed. The samples were mainly from soil profiles and peat bogs above the present-day timberline. Overall, the analysis of the data indicates human presence in these high regions of the Alps throughout the Holocene. While the older botanical and archaeological finds indicate activities of hunting and foraging, the younger ones (after ~5000 BC) point to an intensification of pasturing. This suggests that early human activity was concentrated at altitudes where natural pastures were found, which were probably more favorable than locations at the bottom of the valleys where flooding and other hazards existed. Early users may have come from south of the water divide spreading into the northern regions, particularly during the summer season. It is possible that the Iceman perished at one of his crossings over the probably well-known high-altitude mountain pass due to reasons not yet fully resolved. DOI: 10.2458/56.17919

Palynological evidence of mead: a prehistoric drink dating back to the 3rd millennium b.c.

Human coprolites from Birka, Sweden and Dürrnberg, Austria, have been found, dated and palynologically analysed as a part of interdisciplinary studies. All their pollen spectra are dominated by insect-pollinated taxa well-known as nectar producing flowers, suggesting some consumption of honey. Among those spectra, some show significantly high values of Filipendula ulmaria (meadowsweet) pollen, which was historically used as flavouring in mead production, and which together with other indicators for honey, suggest that mead was part of the historic and prehistoric diet both in Birka and Dürrnberg. An evaluation of the background pollen suggests for the Birka specimen that honey was imported to the site from southern Baltic areas. The use of mead based on written sources is known at least from the Roman period. Archaeological studies demonstrate mead as an old crust residue on the inside of pots and other earthenware used as important funeral gifts from at least the 27th–25th centuries b.c. in Georgia. A comparison of the pollen records of European honey/mead samples strongly suggests that Filipendula is indicative of mead.

The impact of prehistoric mining activities on the environment: a multidisciplinary study at the fen Schwarzenbergmoos (Brixlegg, Tyrol, Austria)

The exploitation of copper ore deposits of the northern Greywacke Zone was initiated by the implementation of metallurgic technologies in the Eastern Alps thousands of years ago. This multi-proxy study aimed to detect prehistoric mining phases in the vicinity of a prominent copper ore deposit in the Lower Inn Valley. Therefore we studied a peat core from a fen using pollen, micro charcoal and geochemical analyses. In the same fen, an archaeological investigation revealed an ore beneficiation site, well dated by dendrochronological analysis to the Late Bronze Age (9th century b.c.). First hints of mining activities reflected by the occurrence of anthropogenic indicators in the pollen diagram, associated with elevated metal values, at the beginning of the Bronze Age might result from early mineral prospecting and metallurgical experiments around the use of fahlore. The local ore deposit was then abandoned until during the Bronze Age mining activities started to increase. This is reflected by an expansion of the pioneer species Pinus and Larix on mine spoil heaps in the proximity. Concomitantly metal ratios and micro charcoal increase. From about 1000 to 850 b.c. a strong impact of mining activities is displayed in the multi-proxy data. The local forest was partly cleared on and in the vicinity of the fen. According to dendrochronological data the ore beneficiation plant was in use from about 900 to 870 b.c. Until about 700 b.c. another period with moderate impact by mining activities in the further vicinity of the fen shows up.

Miners and mining in the Late Bronze Age: a multidisciplinary study from Austria

The extraction and processing of metal ores, particularly those of copper and tin, are regarded as among the principal motors of Bronze Age society. The skills and risks of mining lie behind the weapons, tools and symbols that drove political and ideological change. But we hear much less about the miners themselves and their position in society. Who were these people? Were they rich and special, or expendable members of a hard-pressed workforce? In this study the spotlight moves from the adits, slags and furnaces to the bones and seeds, providing a sketch of dedicated prehistoric labourers in their habitat. The Mauken miners were largely dependent on imported meat and cereals, and scarcely hunted or foraged the resources of the local forest. They seem to be the servants of a command economy, encouraged to keep their minds on the job.

Epilogue: The search for explanations and future developments

In the initial phase of research into the Iceman, four hypotheses — the hunter, shaman, metal prospector and shepherd theories — were proposed to explain the find in its entirety (Egg et al., 1993). On the basis of the detailed scientific investigations conducted in the meantime, however, the assumption that the Iceman was in some way involved in an early form of transhumance has now gained general acceptance.

Was the Iceman really a herdsman? The development of a prehistoric pastoral economy in the Schnals Valley

Abstract The discovery of the Iceman in 1991 led to considerable speculation about the reason for his presence at such a remote location in the high Alps. One theory suggested that he was engaged in transhumant pastoralism when he met his death. Recent archaeological and palynological studies, however, have found no evidence of pastoral activities in this region during the Chalcolithic period. Regular exploitation of this upland landscape appears to have begun no earlier than the Middle Bronze Age. The theory that the Iceman was a high-altitude herdsman therefore appears to be untenable.

The Iceman’s Last Meal Consisted of Fat, Wild Meat, and Cereals

Summary The history of humankind is marked by the constant adoption of new dietary habits affecting human physiology, metabolism, and even the development of nutrition-related disorders. Despite clear archaeological evidence for the shift from hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture in Neolithic Europe [1], very little information exists on the daily dietary habits of our ancestors. By undertaking a complementary -omics approach combined with microscopy, we analyzed the stomach content of the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old European glacier mummy [2, 3]. He seems to have had a remarkably high proportion of fat in his diet, supplemented with fresh or dried wild meat, cereals, and traces of toxic bracken. Our multipronged approach provides unprecedented analytical depth, deciphering the nutritional habit, meal composition, and food-processing methods of this Copper Age individual.

Resource usage of the hilltop settlement on the Kiechlberg near Thaur (Tyrol, Austria) from Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age

Archaeological excavations on the ‘Kiechlberg’ near Thaur (Tyrol, Austria) excavated a dwelling site with an experimental phase of copper metallurgy from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Findings of copper ore, slag, unwrought copper and ingots document the processing sequence from ore to raw copper. Archaeobotanical studies on soil samples from these cultural layers reveal that the early dwellers were embedded in an agricultural society with cultivation of Hordeum vulgare (barley), Triticum dicoccon (emmer) and Pisum sativum (pea). Small domestic animals like Ovis/Capra (sheep/goats) dominate during the Late/Final Neolithic whereas Bos sp. (cattle) prevail during the Early Bronze Age. Nutrition was supplemented by gathering wild plants, e.g. Corylus avellana (hazelnuts) and Quercus sp. (acorns). Anthracological analyses provide information about the use of wood which was primarily taken from a mixed conifer forest composed of Picea abies (spruce), Abies alba (fir) and some Fagus sylvatica (beech). The surrounding woodland was only moderately affected by exploitation for construction and energy purposes even in epochs when smelting activities took place.