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

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

Today, slag heaps and terraces up to 15 m wide can still be seen on the surface of the Late Bronze Age mining settlement in Prigglitz-Gasteil, which covers an area of around 3 ha. Buildings and workshops used to stand on these terraces. The significance of the site was already recognized in the 1950s during the first archaeological excavations. However, it was not possible to carry out a detailed reconstruction of the copper mine until new research was conducted by the State Collections of Lower Austria from 2010 to 2021. This research involved excavations, percussion drilling, geophysical surveys and other scientific investigations.

Mining 3,000 years ago

Copper ore was extracted using surface mining, which reached a depth of up to 37 m below the present-day surface of the slag heap after drilling. Radiocarbon dating and analysis of wood found in the depths of the mine revealed that the mine was likely to have been in operation between c. 1050 and 780 BC. Around 920 BC, there appears to have been an operational accident when a landslide destroyed part of the mine.

There were workshops on the spoil heap where at least part of the ore extracted was smelted and processed. The copper extracted was then cleaned and made into bronze by heating it with tin. The liquid bronze was subsequently cast into bars, tools or jewellery.

Delivery service for the miners

The insights gained into the food supply of the people who lived in the mining settlement are also interesting. A mixture of millet and barley similar to the porridge we eat today formed their staple diet. The ingredients for this porridge are likely to have been delivered pre-prepared from the surrounding area. The meat they ate came from domesticated animals, mainly pigs, that were probably also brought into the settlement in the same way.