Breitegg

The Breitegg is an 874 meter high ridge in the municipality of Nußdorf-Debant in the Lienz district in Austria . The Breitegg was settled from the Late Neolithic to the Early Iron Age and, apart from the Lavanter Kirchenbichl, is the only site of late Neolithic pottery shards in the Lienz district to this day.

geography

The Breitegg drops steeply on three sides and is set off against the flank of the Zettersfeld by a saddle. The ridge of the Breitegg is narrow in the north and widens sharply towards the south. At a height of around 830 meters there is a 50-meter-long and 20-meter-wide open space on the predominantly wooded ridge, which was originally used as a field and today as a meadow.

history

As early as 1944, Oswald Menghin collected prehistoric ceramic shards from molehills in the open space on Breitegg. In 1976 the Federal Monuments Office, state curator for Tyrol, initiated excavations. From 1980 to 1985, around 280 square meters were examined in six campaigns.

The excavation in the investigation area, which is characterized by a steep slope (18-19 °), was technically difficult, the layers leading to the find reached down to a depth of 2 meters. Due to the repeated terracing of the site and the collapse of retaining walls, the archaeologists often found no undisturbed soil layers.

The oldest ceramic finds show characteristics of the Ljubljana culture and were dated between 1900 and 1800 BC (late Neolithic). The Ljubljana culture could have gained influence either through the direct influx of settlers or through trade contacts, which were based on the use of the copper deposits in East Tyrol. In the early Bronze Age, the cultural influence changed, with the northern alpine region and its upstream plains becoming formative. Around 1200 BC, the cultural orientation of the settlement on Breitegg changed significantly. A group from the Adige Valley immigrated to the area and introduced the characteristic ceramic products of Laugen-Melaun ceramics . Based on the ceramics found, it is concluded that the population, who presumably lived from mining, trade and agriculture, could survive into the 9th century. The poor quality of the ceramics in the late phase of the settlement and the cultural influence of one or more neighbors on the Breitegg is a characteristic of the Laugen-Melaun culture. With the phase of the Laugen-Melaun culture B, a decline of the culture and an increasing fragmentation into local cultural areas began in the 11th century. This led to an increasingly independent, local development. Ceramics from the late phase of the Laugen-Melaun culture C were not found on the Breitegg. The possibly violent end of the culture on the Breitegg speaks for the fact that the associated ceramics disappeared after the destruction of the houses.

In the next most recent excavation layer, vessel shapes were found that have no precursors in the Laugen-Melaun culture. However, shards with scroll decorations indicate imported goods from the southern Alpine region. The population of the 8th century could therefore have immigrated or have taken on new influences. The strong variation in external influences speaks in favor of the latter possibility. After the end of the Laugen-Melaun culture, the settlement on the Breitegg consisted of only a few buildings, although in the early Iron Age the area was primarily used for commercial purposes. It is believed that there was a pottery, a copper smelter and cloth processing. Around 700 BC the settlement was destroyed by fire and the probably continuous thousand-year history of the settlement on the Breitegg ended. Only sparse individual finds have been documented for the subsequent period.

literature

• Wilhelm Sydow: The excavation on the Breitegg (community Nussdorf-Debant). In: Nussdorf-Debant in East Tyrol. From the past and present of an East Tyrolean market town. Nussdorf-Debant 1995, pp. 37-64.

Coordinates: 46 ° 50 ′ 21.8 "  N , 12 ° 48 ′ 0.7"  E