Prigglitz-Gasteil – living and working in a Bronze Age mining community

Prigglitz is home to the best-researched prehistoric mining site in Lower Austria. Around 3,000 years ago, copper was mined and processed here.

The surface of the approximately 3-hectare Late Bronze Age mining settlement in Prigglitz-Gasteil can still be seen today in the form of heaps and terraces up to 15 m wide. Buildings and workplaces once stood on these. The importance of the site was recognized as early as the 1950s during the first archaeological excavations. However, a detailed reconstruction of the copper mine was only made possible by new research carried out by the Lower Austrian State Collections between 2010 and 2021. In addition to excavations, pile-driving core drillings, geophysical prospections and other scientific investigations were also carried out.

Mining 3,000 years ago

The copper ore was extracted in open-cast mining, which after drilling reached a depth of up to 37 m below the current surface of the heap. C14 dating and the analysis of timbers preserved at depth revealed that the mine was probably in operation between around 1050 and 780 BC. An operational accident appears to have occurred around 920 BC, when a landslide destroyed part of the mine.

There were workshops on the spoil heap where at least part of the extracted ore was smelted and processed. The extracted copper was then cleaned, alloyed with tin to make bronze and cast into ingots, tools or jewelry.

Delivery service for the miners

The findings on the food supply for the inhabitants of the mining settlement are also interesting. They mainly ate a porridge made from millet and barley, similar to today's porridge, the ingredients of which were probably already prepared and delivered from the surrounding area. The inhabitants covered their meat consumption with domestic animals, mainly pigs, which were probably also traded in.