Josef Szombathy

Josef Szombathy (born June 11, 1853 Vienna ; † November 9, 1943 Vienna) was an Austrian prehistoric scientist who led the excavation in which Venus von Willendorf was found in 1908 .

Life

Szombathy was born the son of a tailor in simple circumstances. After elementary school, Szombathy entered high school in 1864. From 1870 to 1874 he studied at the Polytechnic Institute (from 1872: Technical University) , especially at the chemical-technical school.

In 1872/73 he was also in military service and was involved in the museum installation of the skeletons of New Zealand giant birds for the Vienna World Exhibition under the direction of Ferdinand von Hochstetter . In 1874, Szombathy was appointed Hochstetter's assistant at the Institute for Mineralogy and Geology at the Technical University in Vienna. In addition, he studied a. a. 1874/75 with Eduard Suess Geologie, later also with Friedrich Simony . Szombathy married in 1882 and had four children.

Act

naturehistorical Museum

Josef Szombathy worked at the Natural History Museum in Vienna from 1878 to 1916/19 , from 1882 as head of its anthropological-prehistoric collection, to the establishment of which he had made a significant contribution. Although retired, he continued to work as a volunteer until the 1930s. From 1885–1907 Moriz Hoernes was his employee. Josef Bayer took up this position from 1907, and Szombathy later succeeded him at the museum.

Digs

Szombathy was involved in a large number of excavations throughout Austria-Hungary. The most important were the excavations in Mladeč (German: Lautsch ; Moravia ) and in Willendorf ( Lower Austria ). He undertook the first cave excavation in 1879 in the Križna jama (Kreuzberg cave in Carniola), which produced a complete cave bear skeleton. 1880–83 he was v. a. active in Moravia (including Vypustek cave). In the Fürst-Johanns-Höhle near Lautsch (Mladeč) he found remains of early anatomically modern people in 1881/82.

Szombathy also led excavations in Wies , Frög , on the Gurina near Dellach and in the Hallstatt cemetery . From 1885, Szombathy uncovered Iron Age burial grounds in St. Lucia ( Most na Soči ) and Idrija pri Bači (alongside Carlo de Marchesetti ) (Heinrich 2003).

In Willendorf, the collections and excavations by Leopold Koch and Ferdinand Brun from 1883 were under the supervision of Szombathy, who also directed the other excavations by Bayer and Obermaier (Antl-Weiser 2008, p. 30). In 1888 and 1889 Szombathy (with Johann Krahuletz, among others ) carried out rescue excavations in the Kamptal . Further excavations in Lower Austria included u. a. Gföhl , Laa an der Thaya , Gemeinlebarn , Rust im Tullnerfeld , Amstetten , Traiskirchen , Deutsch-Altenburg , Karlstetten and Malleiten near Fischau .

Societies and associations

Szombathy was u. a. on the board of the Anthropological Society in Vienna, Vice President of the Vienna Prehistoric Society, President of the Austrian Tourist Club .

Appreciation

Szombathy was known for his precise and methodical approach. This can be seen from his extensive (excavation) diaries. The methodology also characterizes his work at the Natural History Museum, where he made important holdings accessible by sorting and cataloging. Szombathy became known internationally as the excavators of Mladeč and Willendorf.

Publications (selection)

• About excavations in the Moravian caves in 1881. Report of the k. Academy of Sciences in Vienna, 85th year (= fifth report of the prehistoric commission of the mathematical and natural science class of the Imperial Academy of Sciences). 90-107.
• Un crâne de la race de Crô-Magnon, trouvé en Moravie. XII. Congrès international d'anthropologie et archeologie préhistorique à Paris (August 21, 1900). L'Anthropologie XII, 150-171.
• The Aurignacia layers in Loess von Willendorf. In: Correspondence sheet of the German Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory, Volume 40, No. 9/12 (1909) 85-88.

literature

• Angelika Heinrich: Josef Szombathy (1853-1943). In: Mitteilungen der Anthropologische Gesellschaft in Wien , Volume 133 (2003), pp. 1-45, ISSN  0373-5656 .
• Walpurga Antl-Weiser: Szombathy's Excavations in the Mladeč Cave and the First Presentations of the Results. In: Maria Teschler-Nicola (Ed.): Early Modern Humans at the Moravian Gate. The Mladeč Caves and their Remains . Springer, Vienna 2006, pp. 1–16, ISBN 978-3-211-23588-1 .
• Walpurga Antl-Weiser: The wife of W. The Venus von Willendorf, her time and the story (s) about her discovery (publications of the prehistoric department; vol. 1). Verlag der Naturhistorischen Museums, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-902421-25-8 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Josef Szombathy in the catalog of the German National Library