The Settlements at Duerrnberg
Little is known about the Iron Age settlements on the Duerrnberg; results of just a few excavations conducted in the last 20 years provide merely a survey of the colonisation.Early settlements
Settlements in the Ramsautal valley
Food remains from the settlement
Burials of newborns in the settlement
Early settlements
The first permanent settlements coincide with the beginning of the salt mining and the occupancy of the oldest cemeteries at the end of the Early Iron Age. They are mainly located in the area of the present village of Bad Duerrnberg and the adjacent hillsides to the south. The intensification of salt mining in the Late Iron Age caused a real building boom, with the settlement areas stretching to the east and northeast.A number of places ill-suited for settlement were developed by laying out terraces The settlement in the Salzach Valley, in the area of today’s city of Hallein, was presumably formed to organize and control trade along the river. With the end of salt mining on the Duerrnberg, the populated area diminished and was again concentrated on the areas that had already been used in the Early Iron Age.
Settlements in the Ramsautal valley
The Ramsau Valley has a special status within the settlement structure of the Duerrnberg. The large, even grassland was densely populated from the 5th century BC onwards, and the moist soil has preserved the wooden parts of the buildings particularly well. The finds now make it possible to reconstruct the Iron Age houses built on the Duerrnberg.They were shingle-roofed log cabins, whose exterior probably resembled today’s chalets. They were built on stone bases and could be up to 13 metres long. The floors were made of wood or brick earth, and several houses had separate rooms inside. Very little has been preserved of the interior furnishing, and we have to rely on depictions on situlae (large bronze buckets) and on rare finds of parts of furniture from other sites to get a rough idea of what it might have looked like.
The finds from the Ramsau Valley settlement prove that it was an industrial settlement; a place where mining tools were manufactured and maintained, and where thousands of tapers were made to serve as the only source of light below ground. Metal-processing facilities were concentrated at the edge of the Ramsau Valley. Not only did they manufacture tools, but also many of the costume accessories and jewellery items discovered in the graves. Generally speaking, the Duerrnberg settlements hosted miners and craftsmen who worked the 'White Gold'. We know of no 'princely site' at the Duerrnberg.
Food remains from the settlement
The refuse of the many settlements, that is to say the animal bones, is an important source for the reconstruction of the eating habits of the Duerrnberg population. Beef was predominant, followed by pork, lamb and goat, while wild game is hardly seen at all.Burials of newborns in the settlement
While the settlements shed light on the lifestyle habits of the time, they also provide information about Iron Age death rituals. Skeletons of newborn babies were repeatedly discovered under the foundation beam of the houses. The question whether this was a particular type of burial suggesting that a normal funeral presupposed a certain age, or whether it was a building sacrifice has so far remained unanswered.(S. Moser)
