05. 10. 09. - 15:00

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05. 10. 09. - 15:00

Bronze Age box unearthed in Salzburg

By David Rogers

Archaeologists claim to have made a "sensational" find after they unearthed a 3,000-year-old wooden box used in central Europe’s biggest copper-mining operation at the Mitterberg mountain in Salzburg’s Pongau region.

They said the box from the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, which was discovered using the latest high-tech research methods including laser scanning, dated to between 1,500 and 1,000 B.C.

Provincial archaeologist Raimund Kastler today (Mon) called the discovery "a truly sensational find".

Thomas Stöllner from Bochum University in Germany’s Ruhr area and the head of Historical Mining in the Tyrol and Adjacent Areas group said analysis of sediment in the box promised more answers to questions about technology during the Bronze Ages.

He added it was the second box of its type to have been found in the eastern Alps. Concentrated copper ore, he said, had been taken from the Mitterberg to many huts in the surrounding area.

The project’s cooperation partners include Salzburg Museum, Heidelberg University’s Institute for Pre- and Ancient History, Innsbruck University, Bochum University and the German Mining Museum in Bochum.

Project financing has been provided by the Austrian Fund for Support of Scientific Research in Austria, the province of Salzburg and the Mommertz Foundation in Bochum.

The find comes after archaeologists in Burgenland unearthed three Roman military camp sites – finds they said would make it necessary to rewrite the history of the Romans in Austria.

Stefan Groh, the leader of the Austrian Archeological Institute (ÖAI) team that discovered the sites, said that the three camp sites near Strebersdorf in Burgenland's Lutzmannsburg municipality were along the old amber road, the main Roman trading road in the region.

Groh said the objects found at the sites, which cover an area of two hectares, would lead to new understanding of the function of the Roman army.

He added: "Our work in this area last year and this year means that the history of the Roman presence in this region and in Austria will have to be rewritten."

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