A.-E. Awad-Konrad/H. Ilsinger/F. M. Müller/E. Waldhart (Hrsg.), Opfer der eigenen Begeisterung. Festschrift für Harald Stadler zum 65. Geburtstag, NEARCHOS 25, Brixen 2024, 541-546., 2024
This small brass figurine (attached to an iron rod) was discovered on the Austrian banks of the A... more This small brass figurine (attached to an iron rod) was discovered on the Austrian banks of the Alpine Rhine river and has puzzled archaeologists for some time. Material analyses and further research have confirmed its provenance from West Africa, probably modern Ghana. The object may be addressed as a skewer with a decorative head or handle in the artistic tradition of the Asante gold weights. How it came to the Alps (possibly as a souvenir in the 20th century) remains uncertain.
Uploads
Papers by Andreas Picker
Obviously, human activities have effects on the natural environment. Rarely, however, do archaeologists and heritage managers take a step further and view their sites and monuments from the point of view of nature conservation. To some extent, archaeologists tend to view their findings isolated from the natural environment. The perception of the “naturalness” of places or landscapes varies within a wide spectrum. Still, people have always tended to differ strongly between the concept of a supposedly pristine natural environment and the perceived cultivated landscape.
Essentially, dealing with archaeological findings (and ultimately archaeological sites and monuments) can help our understanding of how environments evolve and develop. This “historical” view of natural environments has been the objective of environmental archaeology for decades. The research agendas of zooarchaeology, archaeobotany and geoarchaeology have produced an invaluable basis for our understanding of past environments.
Beyond this, the relationship between archaeological heritage and the present environment should be brought into focus. Archaeological sites, monuments and built environments demand protection and conservation, which is part of heritage management plans in many countries. When buried archaeology becomes excavated, preserved and presented to the public, it begins to play a certain role in the management of our present environment and as (new) habitats for plants and animals. This aspect has not been studied sufficiently, so far.
The EAC’s 23rd Heritage Management Symposium took place March 24–25, 2022, at the Natural History Museum Vienna on behalf of the Austrian Federal Monuments Authority (Bundesdenkmalamt). The choice of venue and cooperating institution attests to the symposium’s interdisciplinary approach. In 14 papers, the authors explored three general themes:
1. Archaeology as habitat – monuments and sites as habitats
2. Archaeology and biodiversity – understanding species introductions, distributions and extinctions over time
3. Archaeological heritage and natural heritage management – conflict or collaboration in protecting nature and archaeology?
Bernhard Hebert, Peter Höglinger, Christian Mayer, Andreas Picker, René Ployer, Eva Steigberger und Bernd Euler-Rolle, Archäologische Monumente in Österreich: Bedeutung, Bewertungskriterien und das öffentliche Interesse an ihrer Erhaltung. Am Weg zu einer repräsentativen Auswahl der Denkmalvielfalt. Fundberichte aus Österreich 58, 2019, 43-62.
The Department of Archaeology of Austria’s Federal Monuments Authority (Bundesdenkmalamt) has pursued a project to analyse which archaeological monuments stand out among their peers, and what criteria might be useful to define such significance. The result has been a (neither exclusive nor exhaustive) list of one hundred highest-ranking archaeological monuments in Austria. The paper describes the four general criteria and their application. The Austrian "significance project" has successfully shown how an empirical survey among a group of heritage managers can succeed, if the same structured criteria are applied to a greater number of monuments. However (and quite in the tradition of Alois Riegl), a broad catalogue of values should be up for discussion when assigning monument significance. Any representative selection must be based on monument diversity.
conducted an archaeological survey of the entire hill. Three small test trenches yielded findings valuable to the interpretation and dating of the site. This paper presents a short inventory of the approximately 100 significant finds. These show that the sanctuary was in use from the middle Latène period (3rd / 2nd century BC) to late antiquity (4th century AD). The flat plateau area is likely to have served as a "Festwiese" for ceremonies, while votiv offerings may have been deposited along the edges of the hill. The dominance of weapons and equipment, especially the fragments of Negauer helmets and lances, may indicate a "masculine" character of the sanctuary. Which deity was worshiped here still eludes us. An altar of ash deposits or the actual sacrificial site
has not yet been located. Future research will certainly provide further information.
The Roman road from Bregenz/Brigantium (Vorarlberg/Austria) to Ad Rhenum (a still unlocated mansio of the Tabula Peutingeriana) and ultimately to Vindonissa (Switzerland) has been known to the scientific community for a relatively long time. However, the exact location between the towns of Hard and Lauterach has only recently been determined due to a rescue excavation in 2017 and a geophysical survey on behalf of the Austrian Federal Monuments Office (Bundesdenkmalamt) in 2018. Some remarkable wood structures adjacent to the road have given felling dates of 15 to 23 AD. Thus, the construction of the road to Ad Rhenum dates to the time of the Tiberian military presence in Bregenz. This highway also seems to have again risen in importance in the 4th century, with the installation of the Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes.
römische Gräberfeld von Brigantium weiter archäologisch zu untersuchen. In der knapp 80 m langen Grabungsfläche kamen zwölf v.a. flavische Brandgräber und 20 Körpergräber des 3. und v.a. 4. Jh. n. Chr. zutage. Unser bisheriges Wissen um das Bregenzer Gräberfeld, das sich zur Gänze auf Altgrabungen stützt, konnte durch heutigen Standards entsprechende Grabungsmethoden sowie anthropologische Untersuchungen und 14C-Datierungen mit wertvollen Erkenntnissen ergänzt werden.
Books by Andreas Picker
Obviously, human activities have effects on the natural environment. Rarely, however, do archaeologists and heritage managers take a step further and view their sites and monuments from the point of view of nature conservation. To some extent, archaeologists tend to view their findings isolated from the natural environment. The perception of the “naturalness” of places or landscapes varies within a wide spectrum. Still, people have always tended to differ strongly between the concept of a supposedly pristine natural environment and the perceived cultivated landscape.
Essentially, dealing with archaeological findings (and ultimately archaeological sites and monuments) can help our understanding of how environments evolve and develop. This “historical” view of natural environments has been the objective of environmental archaeology for decades. The research agendas of zooarchaeology, archaeobotany and geoarchaeology have produced an invaluable basis for our understanding of past environments.
Beyond this, the relationship between archaeological heritage and the present environment should be brought into focus. Archaeological sites, monuments and built environments demand protection and conservation, which is part of heritage management plans in many countries. When buried archaeology becomes excavated, preserved and presented to the public, it begins to play a certain role in the management of our present environment and as (new) habitats for plants and animals. This aspect has not been studied sufficiently, so far.
The EAC’s 23rd Heritage Management Symposium took place March 24–25, 2022, at the Natural History Museum Vienna on behalf of the Austrian Federal Monuments Authority (Bundesdenkmalamt). The choice of venue and cooperating institution attests to the symposium’s interdisciplinary approach. In 14 papers, the authors explored three general themes:
1. Archaeology as habitat – monuments and sites as habitats
2. Archaeology and biodiversity – understanding species introductions, distributions and extinctions over time
3. Archaeological heritage and natural heritage management – conflict or collaboration in protecting nature and archaeology?
Bernhard Hebert, Peter Höglinger, Christian Mayer, Andreas Picker, René Ployer, Eva Steigberger und Bernd Euler-Rolle, Archäologische Monumente in Österreich: Bedeutung, Bewertungskriterien und das öffentliche Interesse an ihrer Erhaltung. Am Weg zu einer repräsentativen Auswahl der Denkmalvielfalt. Fundberichte aus Österreich 58, 2019, 43-62.
The Department of Archaeology of Austria’s Federal Monuments Authority (Bundesdenkmalamt) has pursued a project to analyse which archaeological monuments stand out among their peers, and what criteria might be useful to define such significance. The result has been a (neither exclusive nor exhaustive) list of one hundred highest-ranking archaeological monuments in Austria. The paper describes the four general criteria and their application. The Austrian "significance project" has successfully shown how an empirical survey among a group of heritage managers can succeed, if the same structured criteria are applied to a greater number of monuments. However (and quite in the tradition of Alois Riegl), a broad catalogue of values should be up for discussion when assigning monument significance. Any representative selection must be based on monument diversity.
conducted an archaeological survey of the entire hill. Three small test trenches yielded findings valuable to the interpretation and dating of the site. This paper presents a short inventory of the approximately 100 significant finds. These show that the sanctuary was in use from the middle Latène period (3rd / 2nd century BC) to late antiquity (4th century AD). The flat plateau area is likely to have served as a "Festwiese" for ceremonies, while votiv offerings may have been deposited along the edges of the hill. The dominance of weapons and equipment, especially the fragments of Negauer helmets and lances, may indicate a "masculine" character of the sanctuary. Which deity was worshiped here still eludes us. An altar of ash deposits or the actual sacrificial site
has not yet been located. Future research will certainly provide further information.
The Roman road from Bregenz/Brigantium (Vorarlberg/Austria) to Ad Rhenum (a still unlocated mansio of the Tabula Peutingeriana) and ultimately to Vindonissa (Switzerland) has been known to the scientific community for a relatively long time. However, the exact location between the towns of Hard and Lauterach has only recently been determined due to a rescue excavation in 2017 and a geophysical survey on behalf of the Austrian Federal Monuments Office (Bundesdenkmalamt) in 2018. Some remarkable wood structures adjacent to the road have given felling dates of 15 to 23 AD. Thus, the construction of the road to Ad Rhenum dates to the time of the Tiberian military presence in Bregenz. This highway also seems to have again risen in importance in the 4th century, with the installation of the Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes.
römische Gräberfeld von Brigantium weiter archäologisch zu untersuchen. In der knapp 80 m langen Grabungsfläche kamen zwölf v.a. flavische Brandgräber und 20 Körpergräber des 3. und v.a. 4. Jh. n. Chr. zutage. Unser bisheriges Wissen um das Bregenzer Gräberfeld, das sich zur Gänze auf Altgrabungen stützt, konnte durch heutigen Standards entsprechende Grabungsmethoden sowie anthropologische Untersuchungen und 14C-Datierungen mit wertvollen Erkenntnissen ergänzt werden.