Hötting in prehistory and early history

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Archaeological finds from the Early Neolithic , the Bronze and Iron Ages as well as the Roman Imperial Era and the early Middle Ages indicate the importance of Hötting in prehistory and early history . Today, Hötting is a district of Innsbruck .

Early Neolithic

From the end of the Neolithic Age, individual finds are known from both the northern and southern slopes around Innsbruck. However, the settlement findings on the climatically favorable debris cones around Hötting , Pflatschbühel, Oberer Burgstadel, Unterer Burgstadel and at the Norer Sandgrube show a clear concentration of the Neolithic finds on the northern side of the valley. Shards of vessels from these early settlements in Hötting indicate a relationship to the Alpine foothills through their decor . The most important finds from the Hungerburg include a pointed flat ax made of chlorite slate , a blunt-necked flat ax made of serpentine slate labeled "Hungerburg" and arrowheads with a retracted base from the Lohbach settlement .

Late Bronze Age

The northern foothills of the Alps and the Danube region are particularly formative and stimulating for the settled population in the Late Bronze Age . In addition to a significant increase in population, new burial customs are also emerging. The dead are cremated and buried in urns . The settlements of the Middle and Late Bronze Age are to the northwest and north of the old Höttingen parish church on the hilltops of the Upper and Lower Burgstadels. The concentration of the Urnfield Age necropolis in and around Innsbruck is certainly also due to the mining of copper ores . During excavations at the Peerhof , Allerheiligenhöfe , a bronze dagger with a detached grip plate and three rivet holes was found.

Cremation fields in Hötting

In 1740, prehistoric finds from Hötting were first mentioned by the court archivist and head of the Theresian library, Anton Roschmann . In 1864 the actual archaeological research in Hötting begins. At least seven grave fields with over 400 burials were uncovered. A direct settlement reference to the cemetery is currently not ascertainable. The small regions in Hötting with Höttingergasse, Schulgasse and Allerheiligenhöfe are given in Roman numerals.

Hötting I – Höttingergasse

The widening of Höttinger Gasse and the erection of a boundary wall in the area of ​​Höttingergasse 8 destroyed several urn graves . During excavations in the so-called Scherer'schen Garten by David Schönherr , Johann Schuler and Franz von Wieser , over 45 cremation graves were recovered. In 1886, with the recovery of grave 49, the research into the cemetery of Hötting I (13th – 10th century BC) ended. Among the finds were a double-conical urn, a double-edged bronze razor, a columnar urn and a vase-head needle.

Hötting II – Schulgasse

Excavations in 1925, 1941 and 1977 uncovered over 130  cremation graves north of the Hötting I cemetery. The objects found include a fragment of a pearl slide with circular eyes made of bone, a cylinder urn and a finger knife of the Pfatten type.

Hötting III – Allerheiligenhöfe

In 1936 a three-pronged bronze handle-tongue dagger was excavated on a plot of land in Allerheiligen. In 1953 a warrior grave (11th-10th century BC) was built in the garden of the house at Allerheiligenhöfe No. 13 at the foot of the Galgenbühel. ) exposed. During the excavation for a garage, fragments of undecorated clay pots and bones of pigs, cattle and horses as well as an approximately 1 m² large stone fireplace with ash and charcoal residues came to light.

Iron age

Due to the declining copper ore mining in the Tyrolean mining districts, large parts of the population emigrate and thus a declining occupancy of the urnfield burial grounds . The district of Hötting is a preferred settlement area even in the older Iron Age. Ceramic fragments can be found on the Schönbühel, Rappenschrofen, Hohenbühel, Pflatschbühel, Fuchseck and in All Saints' Day. The ceramic found material has a wide range of shapes and decorations in the common ceramics. Among the numerous pieces of pottery found in Hötting West , the fragment of a bronze helmet of the Negau type (remainder of the bowl and comb section) clearly stands out. Despite the great destruction, this fragment can be associated with the Negau helmet of the central alpine type with braided ribbon trim from Fallmerayerstraße. Two excellently preserved bronze brooches from the spring pattern and an iron lance tip (lost) came to light in the area of ​​today's residential complex Peergrund . Particularly noteworthy is an elk antler ax from Rappenschrofen, which can be dated back to the earlier Iron Age due to the associated pottery. There are no confirmed grave finds in the city of Innsbruck for either the older or the younger Iron Age.

Roman Imperial Era

With the Roman occupation in 15 BC The settlement area on the northern and southern slopes around Innsbruck changed significantly. The hilltops, which had been inhabited since prehistoric times, were abandoned. As a result, the slope terraces and the valley lowlands were increasingly inhabited. Settlement finds, fragments of pottery from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD in the Lechner horticultural business were found at Hinterwaldner Straße 4 and on the neighboring fields. The finds include various fibulae and a handle attachment made of bronze, which shows a Medusa head over a palmette.

Early middle ages

Six iron arrowheads that were found above the Höhenstraße, east of the Fallbach, should be mentioned among early medieval finds for the Hötting area.

literature

  • Hannsjörg Ubl: The prehistory and early history of Innsbruck. In: Johanna Felmayer: The profane art monuments of the city of Innsbruck outside the old town. Schroll, Vienna 1981, ISBN 3-7031-0471-6 , pp. 685-738 ( Die Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Innsbruck 2, Österreichische Kunsttopographie 45).
  • Wolfgang Sölder: Prehistory and early history of Innsbruck . Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck 2007, ISBN 978-3-900083-13-7 , pp. 15–67 (exhibition catalog, Innsbruck, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, January 25 - April 22, 2007).
  • Egon K. Moser: Prehistoric settlement and find topography of Innsbruck-Hötting . In: Communications from the Anthropological Society in Vienna . 100, 1970, ISSN  0373-5656 , pp. 195-206.