Hallstatt during the Stone Age
It is hard to tell when the first humans moved into the Hallstatt High Valley. It may have been periodically exploited by hunters and gatherers as early as the Palaeolithic period. But the first firm evidence of the presence of humans in the valley (an antler pick and some stone axes) comes from approximately 7000 years ago, from the Neolithic period (the 'New Stone Age'). Neolithic remains have also been discovered by the lake, near the modern village of Hallstatt. More than 7000 years ago, Central Europe saw the emergence of agricultural societies. This period has left scanty but nevertheless fascinating and significant traces in the High Valley.Settlements in the Alps
The oldest tools found in Hallstatt
Settlements in the Alps
Why did human beings come to this isolated location in the first place? As far as we know, the entire Salzkammergut region was not permanently inhabited before 7000 years ago. People of the Neolithic favoured the fertile soils of Eastern Austria, the Alpine foreland, and the Danube Valley. The humans who eventually began to settle the Alpine region were early farmers, and it was not until the Copper Age (about 6,500 years ago), that most of the large Alpine valleys, including those in the Salzkammergut, began to be occupied. But the evidence from the Hallstatt High Valley predates this.The oldest tools found in Hallstatt
Radiocarbon dating has revealed that a pick made of deer antler and discovered 1838 in the Kaiser Josef Adit is about 7000 years old. What was it that attracted people to this valley so far from their usual, lowland settlements? Was it salt? We do not yet have clear evidence of salt mining at this time: it cannot be definitively documented until the Bronze Age. May we nevertheless assume that salt was mined in the Neolithic? The antler pick is a typical mining tool. Does this suggest that there had at least been some attempt to mine salt 7000 years ago? The stone axes provide interesting information. Since radiocarbon dating cannot be applied to stone, it is not possible to determine their age as precisely as that of the antler pick. But their number and the variety of forms – long thin stone axes of the 'shoe last celt' type, shoe-last axes, adzes and other types of axe – clearly suggest the regular presence of human beings in the High Valley. Many of the axes are broken, which gives a clue as to their use.Stone axes were specifically used for felling trees and doing woodwork. It seems improbable that such wood was intended to then be transported elsewhere, as at this time almost all regions of Europe were densely forested - transporting wood over long distances was completely unnecessary. We must assume that the wood was actually used up on the mountain. But for what purpose? – to build houses? as fuel to boil brine or as supports for the mine galleries? We have no way of proving any of these hypotheses as we do not yet have unequivocal direct evidence of salt mining underground prior to the Middle Bronze Age.
(Kowarik, K. – Reschreiter, H.)
