The Fuchsenhof Hoard

In 1997 in Fuchsenhof near Freistadt (Upper Austria) a thirteenth century hoard was found containing about 6000 coins, about 450 pieces of jewellery (in different stages from semi- finished products to damaged pieces prepared for being remelted) and raw material for manufacture of jewellery (silber bars and wires, leafs of gold, semiprecious stones). Due to size, age and composition the hoard evidently represents an important document of medieval cultural history. The present research project tries to bring about a scientific documentation and treatment as comprehensive as possible, which will be done by experts of different fields and cooperation of different scientific institutions (Upper Austrian Federal Museum, Linz; Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna and Krems; Vienna University; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). In close cooperation between experts of the humanities (archaeology, epigraphy, philology, numismatics, history) and natural science (metallurgy, gemmology, history of technology) the material is to be studied in view of different questions (chronology, provenience, typology, function, social and economic background etc.). The results of these investigations will be presented to the public in a final publication.

In 1997 a medieval hoard was found near Freistadt (Upper Austria) containing about 6600 coins, 450 pieces of jewellery (340 of them in complete state, the others as semi-finished products or fragments) and raw material for the manufacture of jewellery (silver bars and wires, leaves of gold, semiprecious stones). Besides, fragments of a bronze-vessel and small pieces of cloth were recovered. The research project aimed at a comprehensive scientific documentation and treatment of the material. Special attention was directed to a close cooperation between the different scientific disciplines to treat as many aspects of the hoard as possible. A team consisting of specialists in the fields of history, archaeology, numismatics, epigraphy and German philology as well as metallurgy and chemistry supported by experts in graphic documentation and restoration did a lot of detailed investigations. The time when the hoard was buried could be narrowed down to the decade between approximately 1265 and 1275. The find, however, covers a wide chronological range and objects can be dated from the 2nd century BC to the 13th century AD. Extensive comparison with hundreds of hoards from all over Europe has shown, that the Fuchsenhof hoard contains the largest accumulation of pieces of jewellery from the 12th to the 16th centuries ever found in Europe. The numismatic evidence has so far remained unparalleled. The geographic provenience of the objects is very wide-spread (from Great Britain to Jerusalem) and has a focal point in eastern Central Europe as concerns the jewellery and to0 some extent the coins, too. The geat variety of the hoard-material allowed the development of a new typology for pieces of jewellery and made detailed scientific investigations possible. They brought forth new knowledge on the techniques of medevial goldsmiths, for example on the reconstruction of manufacturing methods as well as on metallurgical problems (alloy, fineness etc.). The investigation on the cultural and historical background placed the hoard in the daily life of the time around 1300 by comparing the material with other medieval sources. The meaning of "treasuring" and the importance of precious metals within the medieval society was worked out as well as the iconography (pictures, symbols) of the coins and works of jewellery. The results of the investigations and a comprehensive documentation of the hoard will be published in a book by 2004, until then the complete hoard will be permanently presented to the public at the Castle-Museum / Upper Austrian Federal Museum in Linz.