Ressourcenmanagement im Pfahlbau

In the 1870s, pile dwellings were discovered in Upper Austria’s Salzkammergut. Matthäus Much, a pioneer explorer of Austrian prehistory, recovered thousands of artefacts from the bottom of Lake Mondsee, where remnants of a Neolithic pile dwelling had survived 3–4 meters below the surface. Of these the organic relicts conserved under water for over 5000 years, such as food, pieces of twine and wooden artefacts, are especially noteworthy while the kind of decorated ceramics discovered there became the key feature defining the regional Mondsee-culture. Finds pertaining to the earliest procession of copper in the Eastern Alps are evidences of settlement activity in the Copper Age, as well. Apart from these artefacts, more than 400 stone axes were recovered. They provide an impressive insight into the technical skills of the Salzkammergut’s settlers of the Iceman’s time. Fitted into wooden shafts, they were universal tools as well as effective weapons. These stone axes are the subject of this thesis. They were analysed in form and size. The acquired data in this process was then evaluated and is presented in the form of diagrams and statistics. Based on the traces of manufacture and use, it can be reconstructed as well: process of production, repairing after damage and the utilisation of material depending on the type of raw material. To describe the living area it is important to have the knowledge of the location of raw material deposits. Accordingly, the petrological methods especially useful in archaeology for finding the location of rock deposits are introduced in conclusion. The richly illustrated text component is completed by an extensive catalogue.