2000 years of iron production in Hüttenberg - archeometry

The mining district called `Ferrum Noricum` in Austria can be proven to look back on a 2500 year old tradition of iron production which only ended in the second half of the 20th century. Three projects on aspects of iron production at the industrial site Hüttenberg have been submitted to the Austrian Science Foundation. The planned work comprises archaeological research, forest utilization and management, and archaeometry. The proposed archaeometric project aims at a detailed geophysical survey of the smelting sites at Hüttenberg, as well as on archaeomagnetic dating of excavated furnaces. The contribution of the archaeometric project to the joint research effort concerns the determination of the extent of the Preroman and Roman smelting site, where the excavations will be carried out. Geophysical survey will not only help to find Roman and medieval smelting sites mentioned in old literature and previously unknown sites, but will also give information on their size and inner structure and thereby help to evaluate their importance. The main goals can be described as follows: Extensive geophysical overview mapping in order to delineate the borders of the area of interest and successive detailed prospection on the survey areas by high resolution measurements Systematic archaeological/archaeometric field surveys of find sites which are known from bibliographical data, but not yet scientifically investigated Petrophysical investigations accompanying the excavations to support the geophysical modelling and interpretation as well as archaeology (e.g. mining specific finds) Archaeomagnetic dating of selected excavated structures. In contrast to archaeological prospection in smooth terrain which is based on aerial photography and geophysical raster surveys, archaeometric prospection in rough alpine terrain requires a more complex methodological approach. We propose a combined magnetic-gradiometer and VLF-electromagnetic ground survey with GPS positioning as the first step of investigation in order to delineate the areas of interest. Successively, the systematic archaeological/archaeometric investigations of find sites will be performed. Samples for petrophysical laboratory analyses will be taken to support the geophysical modelling and interpretation of the maps. Archaeomagnetic dating is based on the well established paleomagnetic field and laboratory methods, which allow determining the vector of the ancient Earth`s magnetic field. A newly established archaeomagnetic reference curve for Austria will serve as a base for the dating.

The mining district called `Ferrum Noricum` in Austria can be proven to look back on a 2500 year old tradition of iron production which only ended in the second half of the 20th century. Three projects on aspects of iron production at the industrial site Hüttenberg have been submitted to the Austrian Science Foundation. The planned work comprises archaeological research, forest utilization and management, and archaeometry. The proposed archaeometric project aims at a detailed geophysical survey of the smelting sites at Hüttenberg, as well as on archaeomagnetic dating of excavated furnaces. The contribution of the archaeometric project to the joint research effort concerns the determination of the extent of the Preroman and Roman smelting site, where the excavations will be carried out. Geophysical survey will not only help to find Roman and medieval smelting sites mentioned in old literature and previously unknown sites, but will also give information on their size and inner structure and thereby help to evaluate their importance. The main goals can be described as follows: Extensive geophysical overview mapping in order to delineate the borders of the area of interest and successive detailed prospection on the survey areas by high resolution measurements Systematic archaeological/archaeometric field surveys of find sites which are known from bibliographical data, but not yet scientifically investigated Petrophysical investigations accompanying the excavations to support the geophysical modelling and interpretation as well as archaeology (e.g. mining specific finds) Archaeomagnetic dating of selected excavated structures. In contrast to archaeological prospection in smooth terrain which is based on aerial photography and geophysical raster surveys, archaeometric prospection in rough alpine terrain requires a more complex methodological approach. We propose a combined magnetic-gradiometer and VLF-electromagnetic ground survey with GPS positioning as the first step of investigation in order to delineate the areas of interest. Successively, the systematic archaeological/archaeometric investigations of find sites will be performed. Samples for petrophysical laboratory analyses will be taken to support the geophysical modelling and interpretation of the maps. Archaeomagnetic dating is based on the well established paleomagnetic field and laboratory methods, which allow determining the vector of the ancient Earth`s magnetic field. A newly established archaeomagnetic reference curve for Austria will serve as a base for the dating.