The Kleinwalsertal revisited New approaches for an " old " landscape

The Kleinwalsertal revisited New approaches for an “old” landscape 1 Caroline Posch M.A. 1 Institute of Archaeology, University of Innsbruck Kleinwalsertal Fig.1: Rockshelter Schneiderküren (seen form northwest) and the location of the research area in Western Austria The region Kleinwalsertal in Western Austria represents one of the numerous little known archaeological areas of the Northern Alps. With a total of 57 sites of various sizes and functions, dating from the Mesolithic to the late Neolithic, it embodies a rich mosaic of a very interesting early Holocene landscape. However, most of these sites and artefacts remain to this day mostly unpublished and/or unexamined. Therefore, it is the aim within this project to study the various find spots and stone artefacts of the valley through an integrated methodological approach. Stone artefacts Aims Objectives Introduction Generating basic data regardingthe technology and typology used in this area and periode. 1) Typological and morphotechnological analysis of the stone artefacts Analysing the connection between the - the various sites and their strategic position in the landscape and - the Early Holocene landscape and its resources 2) Intrasite analysis of the four excavated sites regarding their spatial organisation and stratigraphy 3) Analysis of the Early Holocene landuse Main focus Artefacts form the four excavated sites Rockshelter Schneiderküren, open air sites Egg-Schwarzwasser and Bäramähder and the mining site Feuersteinmähder C B A Fig. 3: Raw material varieties - rockshelter Schneiderküren A: Radiolarian rock (lokal); B: Chert (local); C: Variety yet undeterminded (non-local?) Methods Analysis regarding the chaîne opératoire - catalouge and analyze the production marks on the stone tools - analyze the production sequences of the cores - conduct knapping experiments to determine which strinking tool forms which marks on an artefact that has been made from local radiolarian rock and chert - perform a refitting with the available cores, flakes, blades and tools - determine a typological sequence within the four sites 1 1 1 5 5 4 2 3 Fig. 2: Microlites and various tools from the rockshelter Schneiderküren (random selection) Provenance anlysis of the non-local flint varieties Fig. 4: Production sequence on a flake used as a core - open air site Bäramähder Sites and landscape Prehistoric sites are not just dots on a landscape, they form an integral part of it and for people themselves as they lived in this at times harsh landscape, used its resources and moved within its possibilities and constrictions. Methods Schneiderküren - Creation of a database with the spatial and topographic information of the sites and their surroundings. - Determination of the locally available resources - plants, animals and lithic resources - and their location within the landscape. - Early Holocene vegetation through the interpretation of seven pollen cores. - Local Early Holocene fauna through available plant species and the zoological remains in neighbouring areas (no clear Mesolithic or Neolithic faunal remains in the sites of the Kleinwalsertal). - Possible connection and routes between the sites and the local resources through a hypothetical model of GIS-calculations like Foraging Range and Least Cost Path Analysis. Egg-Schwarzwasser Main focus - Study the internal organisation of the four excavated sites - Analysis of the interaction between people - landscape - resoures - Reconstruction of possible routes - Determine were and why camps were placed within the landscape - Study to what extent the resources were exploited Feuersteinmähder Bäramähder Fig. 5: Location of 29 sites:1 Schneiderküren, 2 Schlapoltgratl, 3 Windeggsattel, 4 Silbersee, 5 Kürenwald, 6-7 Oberseite Wiese, 8 Egg-Schwarzwasser, 9-10 Schwarzwassertalweg, 11 Zollhütte, 12 Ochsenhoferscharte, 13 Ütschenpass, 14 Stierfalcha, 15 Bärgunt Alpe, 16 Mittel Alpe, 17 Bäramähder, 18 Hochalppass, 19 Hochalpsee, 20 Seeköpfe, 21 Gemstelpass, 22 Gemstel Alp, 23 Feuersteinmähder, 24 Hinterwilden (coordinates by courtsey of D. Willand). Preliminary results and outlook Typological sequences - 99 microlites from the rockshelter Schneiderküren already examined - Typological classification: high proportion of bilaterally backed micropoints, backed bladelets, lanceolate points with straight and concave bases, more extremely scalene triangles in contrast to the isosceles triangles - first assumption = strong influences from the Beuronien C/late early Mesolithic of SouthWestern Germany (Fig. 2) - also several very thin bilaterally backed points with concave bases (Fig. 2) - suggest a connection to the Sauveterrian or Sauvetteriano - Further studies will hopefully provide more clarity in the future Morphotechnological studies - Completion of the cataloguing of the morphotechnological features until December 2017 to January 2018 - Further analysis in 2018: refitting, knapping experiments, provenance analysis 29 sites so far preexamined - one site at a rockshelter, one mining site and 27 open air sites - all sites are located between 1100 and 2100 m, mostly clustered at the valley heads (Fig. 5) Summer 2017 - archaeological survey - to include topographic information of the sites and their surroundings in the dataset Conclusion The studies regarding the Early Holocene sites of the Kleinwalsertal will create basic data respective typological, morphotechnological and landscape archaeological aspects. The synthesis of these information will provide us with a more diverse and detailed picture of the Early Holocene landscape and people, as well as their mobility and subsistence strategies in the Kleinwalsertal. Acknowledgments This doctor project is funded by the Nachwuchsförderung of the vice-rector for research of the University of Innsbruck. Furthermore, I would like to thank the Walsermuseum Riezlern and Detlef Willand for great their support on site. Contact: caroline.posch@uibk.ac.at Bibliography: T. Bachnetzer, Ein steinzeitliches Bergbaurevier auf Radiolarit im Gemsteltal, Kleinwalsertal (Vorarlberg), Praearchos 5 (Innsbruck 2016 in Vorbereitung); B. F. Byrd – A. N. Garrard – P. Brandy, Modeling foraging ranges and spatial organization of Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in the southern Levant - A least cost GIS approach, Quaternary International 2015, <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.07.048>; N. Castaneda, A Methodological Approach to Core Analysis, in: L. 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