Abstract ID: 3.10011 | Not reviewed | Requested as: Talk | TBA | TBA

Western Austria comprises the northern part of the Central Alps and is characterised by a highly structured landscape. In addition to the mountain ranges of the main Alpine ridge and the Northern Calcareous Alps, there are broad river valleys that open up towards the southern German Alpine foothills, whereas passes such as the Brenner and Reschen pass connect the region to the alpine regions and plains of Northern Italy. Archaeologically three time slices can be distinguished during the Stone Age in which waves of settlement from outside reached this area: Before the LGM, in the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene and finally in the Middle Holocene. In each of these phases, different systems of land use emerged, whereas in all cases, a close connection to adjacent communities to the south and north is apparent. Particularly striking are the differences with regard to the focussed use of certain inner-Alpine altitudinal zones and the adaptations necessary for this: From the Upper Palaeolithic, only one site is known so far, which suggests that Alpine areas were probably only sparsely visited. This changed from the end of the Pleistocene onwards. After a hesitant recolonisation of the lowlands at the margin of the Alps in the Late Palaeolithic, a tradition of specialised exploitation of alpine resources in higher altitudes developed during the Mesolithic including hunting and raw material procurement. However, there are only a few corresponding sites in the inner Alpine valleys. Neolithic settlers initially avoided Alpine areas except for salt production, whereas a potential persistence of hunter-gatherer-communities is discussed. But from the middle of the 5th millennium BCE onwards settlement became established in agriculturally favourable inner-Alpine valleys. On the one hand, close relationships with settlers in the Altsiedellandschaften outside the Alps have been essential. On the other hand, economic adaptations for the utilisation of higher-lying zones are becoming apparent. These included high-alpine hunting and raw material procurement, but perhaps also the development of an early high-altitude pastoral economy can be seen.