Human and animal depositions. Sacrificial cult in Stillfried?

The rampart of Stillfried was presented to the scientific community more than 135 years ago, but not until 1969 that the first systematic excavations began. They could ascertain that the 23-acre settlement was fortified by a 2 km long rampart in the Late Bronze Age and was protected by a deep trench in the west. This investigation was part of the interdisciplinary research project `Habitat Stillfried - From the Ice Age to the Present`. Until 1989 the excavations recovered thousands of finds in a variety of different features, 20 of which were labeled `ritual`. The majority of these objects are up to 2-3m deep, trapezoidal pits that had been primary used for grain storage, but contained and also intentionally stored human and-/-or animal skeletons and- /-or their parts were in the secondary filling. A number of furnaces where also found in which features consisted large amounts of ash containing burnt husks of grain. Particularly striking are changes in animal skeletal morphology that have clearly deliberately been carried out by humans. Mass graves indicate of human sacrifice or give evidence of malnutrition of at least certain parts of the population. All of these objects are located in the west of the area enclosed by the rampart, which is simultaneously the highest point of the settlement. Chronologically theses features with ritual character fall into the main and last phase of urnfield settlement, the Late Urnfield period (1000-800/750 BC). The aim of the project is the scientific study of `rituals` that resulted in features with animal and-/-or human depositions. One focus of the study is to investigate the relationship of these features to the so-called `ritual district` and the western section of the fortification. The construction, destruction and re-building events of the rampart will be reconstructed and contextualized with the features of the ritual district. Findings will be compared to similar sites in central Europe, using a range of heuristic models (e.g. similarities, homologies and analogies) and applying tough source criticism. Interpretations will also make use of anthropological observations as well as ancient to contemporary documents. Animal taxonomy serves as another methodological source of further interpretations. In addition to physical anthropology a-DNA analyses will give help to understand how the deposited people were related. Further methods include the C14 analyses of organic residues, microscopic and qualitative chemical analyses of the so-called `ritual ash`. The additional philosophical approach would rather assume the role of a Critique of Pure Reason by examining the previous results with the intention of finding prejudices and biased conclusion in previous conclusions before proposing a new path for research. The project results will be published in scientific journals and presented and discussed at international conferences. Furthermore, outcomes will be disseminated to the public through a travelling exhibition to trigger a broad discussion in a variety of demographic and age groups. Project parameters developed for recording of material and objects will be incorporated in the nascent Centrope NET `The Cultural Heritage of the Middeldanubian Urnfield Culture` which will also be available on the internet through open access.

Almost exactly 140 years ago, archaeologists discovered a 23 hectare large prehistoric fortified hilltop settlement, located above the present site of Stillfried an der March in Lower Austria. Since then, many generations of researchers have tried to solve the mystery of this site. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was commonly believed that Stillfried was only one among many Urnfield-period (1000800/750 BC) fortified settlements. However, from the late 1960s systematic research conducted by Prof. Fritz Felgenhauer from the University of Vienna, suggested that Stillfried was unique. Inside the site center and surrounded by a rampart, furnaces and fire pits, arranged in rows, were discovered. Trapezoidal storage pits of 2-3 m depth, dug into the loess, also came to light. Some contained the remains of wild animals and of people. The most famous find are seven skeletons recovered through block excavation from one of the pits. Until 2014 they formed one of the main attractions of Exhibition Hall 16 of the Prehistory Department of the Natural History Museum in Vienna.The re-examination of the previously known Stillfried finds and the application of modern scientific methods have substantiated the view that during the Late Urnfield period the site constituted an economic and cultic regional center. The furnaces and fire pits were used for pitch production; cracked barley and threshing remains were also burnt in huge quantities. Most likely, the pits served as central granaries for the surrounding villages. Some of the wild animals deposited in the storage pits such as deer and wolf exhibit clear signs of captivity as also known from modern zoos. This may be evidence that these animals were kept in the settlement and were used for ceremonies. The human individuals deposited in the pits may also have held a special role in society because they were not buried according to the norm the norm was cremation and deposition in urns in a cemetery outside the settlement. The pit with the seven skeletons was located at the highest elevation of the site. Ritually buried objects and the remains of a sunken structure made of timber and clay, both located directly above the pit, could point to the presence of a memorial or a shrine that was visible from afar. In the 8th century BC, at the transition from the Urnfield to the Hallstatt period, the Urnfield period site of Stillfried was destroyed.