Papers by Elisabeth Breitenlechner
Schwaz Vienna Radfeld 0 km 200 N The extraction and processing of metal ores, particularly those ... more Schwaz Vienna Radfeld 0 km 200 N 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 hardpressed 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.
Changes in ancient cultural landscapes are seen as a product of predominantly agricultural activi... more Changes in ancient cultural landscapes are seen as a product of predominantly agricultural activities, but there is another type of human impact which has left significant effects on past environments: Ore mining caused a huge demand on raw materials (water, timber) and the metallurgic process polluted the environment with heavy metals. Recent advances in pollen analysis enable a detailed reconstruction of past vegetation and its agricultural utilization, but the palaeoecology of mining is still poorly known, although its impact shaped the Alpine landscape for thousands of years. However, the difficulty of palynology in mining areas is that mining acitivities produce a similar pollen signal as agricultural activities do. Therefore, here we use a multi-proxy approach to evaluate the effects of historical mining on the vegetation by the combination of pollen, micro-charcoal and geochemical analyses validated by historical and archaeological data. The subject matter is a small fen &quo...
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2010
This article presents results of a multi-proxy study of a fen deposit in the former mining distri... more This article presents results of a multi-proxy study of a fen deposit in the former mining district of Falkenstein near Schwaz in the Tyrol, Austria. The aim of the study in the framework of the special research program HiMAT (The History of Mining Activities in the Tyrol and Adjacent Areas -Impact on Environment & Human Societies) was to disclose the ecological impact of mining in pollen and heavy metal diagrams and to create a model combining the changes in palaeoecological proxies with historical evidences for mining. The application of this palaeoecological-historical model to prehistoric times allowed us to reconstruct the impact of mining and metallurgic activities in the surroundings of the fen during the last millennia. The results of stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating, LOI, pollen and micro-charcoal analyses as well as geochemical analyses of scandium, lead and lead isotopes validated by historical and archaeological data are hereby presented.
Archaeometry, 2014
ABSTRACT A multi‐proxy study by palynological, geochemical, archaeological and dendrochronologica... more ABSTRACT A multi‐proxy study by palynological, geochemical, archaeological and dendrochronological analyses discloses the mining activities at the Mitterberg Main Lode. By these means, several mining phases with varying intensity are recorded during the Bronze and Early Iron Age, whereupon a west to east shift of the mining activity at the Mitterberg Main Lode can be observed. The initial mining phase (Phase II), from the 21st to the 15th centuries bc, is characterized by an opening up of the forest vegetation and, additionally, by slightly elevated heavy metal deposition. Phase III shows a first bloom phase of the chalcopyrite mining during the 14th and 13th centuries bc. Pollen analyses disclose extensive clearings used for pasture and settlement. The increased human impact and higher heavy metal pollution suggest intensive mining activity, which is corroborated by the dendrochronological and archaeological data. Phase IV is characterized by mining activities in progress during the 12th century bc. The pollen data reflect a stabilization of the vegetation and slightly elevated As/Cu/Sb to Sc ratios. During Phase V, in the 11th century bc, new clearings indicate a re‐intensification of the mining activities at the Mitterberg Main Lode. Phase VI, from the ninth century bc onwards, describes a human impact with lower intensity at the mining site. This interdisciplinary study at the Mitterberg Main Lode contributes new environmental data for an important area of past metal mining and extends our understanding of the relationship between miners and their landscape.
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2013
The exploitation of copper ore deposits of the northern Greywacke Zone was initiated by the imple... more 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 multiproxy 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.
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Papers by Elisabeth Breitenlechner