Paul Gleirscher

Paul Gleirscher (born October 7, 1960 in Neustift im Stubaital ) is an Austrian prehistoric historian .

Life

Gleirscher studied prehistory and early history and classical archeology in Innsbruck and Munich. He received his doctorate in Innsbruck in 1984. After research assignments at Castle Tyrol , at the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute (project fire sacrifice place Rungger Egg near Seis am Schlern ) and at the Institute for Monument Preservation at ETH Zurich (project St. Johann in Müstair ) as well as the creation of a traveling exhibition about die Räter on behalf of the Rätisches Museum Chur , he has been head of the department for prehistory at the State Museum of Carinthia in Klagenfurt since 1991 , a department that was newly established at the time. From there he worked at the universities of Klagenfurt, Graz and Vienna, where he completed his habilitation in 1998. In the summer semester of 2008 he was visiting professor at the Institute for Archeology at the University of Graz.

research

Gleirscher's research focus is the Eastern Alps from the Paleolithic to the early Middle Ages. Starting with his dissertation topic, he first turned to the younger Iron Age in the old Tyrolean region and in the adjacent areas, where he researched the group structure of the tribes assigned to the Rhaetians, in particular the type chronology and the definition of the common cultural groups of the Rhaetians today: the Fritzens- Sanzeno Group in Alt-Tirol, the Magrè Group in the Lessin Mountains and the Valcamonica Group in the Lombardy Southern Alps to the west of Lake Garda. The continuation and deepening of these studies took place with the processing of the fire sacrifice place on the Rungger Egg near Seis am Schlern (South Tyrol), which at the same time led to the first broad analysis of the fire sacrifice places typical for the central alpine area since the middle Bronze Age and related questions about the alpine religious history. Dealing with the pre-monastery finds and findings in Müstair-St. Johann spanned the period from the Copper Age to the early Middle Ages. Studies on Säben-Sabiona and various church excavations in South Tyrol under the direction of Hans Nothdurfter, including St. Georg in Völlan , St. Cosmas and Damian in Siebeneich and St. Prokulus in Naturns , were linked to questions of Christianization and Bavarianization . The earliest scientific work by Gleirscher also includes studies on the use of the high alpine region, be it for cultic purposes or for use as pasture land ("alpine farming"). Since its discovery, he emphasized that the "man from the ice" (Ötzi) could by no means be a shepherd, but rather a local leader, whose multi-stage murder he ultimately used in the form of a synthesis of various natural scientific and archaeological data has expressed.

With the move to Carinthia, Gleirscher initially turned to researching the Hallstatt culture there, which has long been known nationwide . He was able to show that the barrow fields and the associated hilltop settlements can be broken down qualitatively and quantitatively and that they repeatedly stand out from one another in terms of their importance and period of existence. During the older Hallstatt culture, Frög with the Burgberg von Rosegg proved to be a central settlement in the Carinthian region, which was built around the middle of the 6th century BC. Was replaced by the Lamprechtskogel near Mittertrixen with the royal graves of Waisenberg and the aristocratic cemetery of Führholz. After its end between 300 and 250 BC The Celts who immigrated from the Danube region established the new center of power in Carinthia on the Gracarca on Lake Klopein, probably the legendary city of Noreia. In addition, Gleirscher turned to the research of all other periods of prehistory and early history of Carinthia, from the Neanderthal camp in the Griffen stalactite cave to questions about the first rural settlements in the Eastern Alps and the pile dwellings of the Copper Age, especially the one in Lake Keutschacher See Interpretation of the Middle and Late Bronze Age hoard finds - in the context of which he also presented a completely unorthodox view of the Nebra Sky Disc - up to a first archaeological synthesis of the early medieval finds in Carinthia, East Tyrol and Upper Styria, the then Slavic Principality of Carantania, where Questions of the continuity of the Christian faith or the Christianization of the Slavs played a special role, as did the question of early medieval fortifications, such as the Karnburg in Zollfeld. The excavations and research carried out together with Peter Gamper on the Gurina near Dellach in the Gailtal also yielded new insights into the Romanization of the Eastern Alpine region, which subsequently had to be compared with the current data for the Magdalensberg, which in many points proved to be untenable. Finally, studies on the interpretation of the pictorial stories of the calendar mountain culture and the art of the situla should be briefly mentioned as well as on questions of religious history relating to the excavations in the Durezza shaft cave above Warmbad Villach, the weapons consecration find at Förker Laas-Riegel via Nötsch in the Gailtal and to connect the Mithras cult cave near St. Egyden.

As head of the Department for Prehistory and Early History at the State Museum for Carinthia, Gleirscher renewed the premises for Prehistory and Early History in the State Museum for Carinthia and carried out numerous excavations in Carinthia.

Memberships

Gleirscher is active in various expert groups, for example on the advisory board of the South Tyrolean Archaeological Museum since 1998 and on the Austrian board of trustees for pile dwellings as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site for Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps since 2012 . Since 2002 he has been head of Section 1: “Prehistory” at the Association of Austrian Historians and History Associations (Vienna) and since 2003 member of the editorial board of the journal Arheološki vestnik, published by the Institute of Archeology at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana .

In 1998 Gleirscher was elected a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin and in the same year was awarded the Carinthian Science Promotion Prize. In 2014 he was elected Socio Corrispondente des Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria (Corresponding Member of the Italian Institute for Prehistory) in Florence, in 2015 he was elected Dopisni član razreda za zgodovinske in družbene vede of the Slovenska akademija znanosti in the Slovenian umetnosti (Korrespondierendesi Academy of Sciences and Arts) in Ljubljana / Laibach.

Fonts (selection)

Monographs

• Die Räter / I Reti (Chur 1991).
• (Ed. According to IR Metzger) Die Räter / I Reti. Schr. Arge Alp Komm. III / Culture (Bozen 1992).
• (according to Hans Rudolf Sennhauser and others) Müstair, St. Johann monastery 1: To the monastery complex. Pre-monastic findings. Publications by the Institute for Monument Preservation at ETH Zurich 16, 1 (Zurich 1996).
• The Celtic settlement on the Gracarca. An archaeological-historical search for traces around the Klopeiner See with views of the Carinthian area and into the Middle Ages (St. Kanzian 1997).
• (in accordance with S. Fabrizii-Reuer, A. Galik, M. Niederhuber and E. Reuer) Archaeological and scientific research on the Durezza shaft cave near Warmbad Villach (Carinthia) = News from Alt-Villach / 34th year book of the city museum ( Villach 1997).
• Carantania. Slavic Carinthia (Klagenfurt 2000).
• (according to Hans Nothdurfter and E. Schubert) The Rungger Egg. Investigations on an Iron Age fire sacrifice site near Seis am Schlern / South Tyrol. Roman-Germanic research 61 (Mainz 2002).
• (according to m. H. Oberrauch) Things of God. Cult during Ötzi's time / In dono agli dei. Culti al tempo di Ötzi (Bozen 2002).
• (Ed. According to Franco Marzatico) Guerrieri, Principi ed Eroi fra il Danubio e il Po dalla Preistoria all'Alto Medioevo. Exhibition catalog Trento 2004 (Trento 2004).
• (together with W. Deuer, H. Krahwinkler, PG Tropper and M. Wassermann) St. Daniel. On the history of the oldest parish in the upper Gailtal and Lesach Valley. Festschrift for the 950th anniversary of the parish church of St. Daniel 1054–2004 (Dellach im Gailtal 2004).
• Immersed history. On the beginnings of fishing and shipping in the Alpine region (Klagenfurt 2006).
• Mystical Carinthia. The legendary - the hidden - the excavated (Klagenfurt 2006).
• Noreia - Atlantis of the Mountains. News about the goddess, city and street station (Klagenfurt 2009).
• (Ed. In accordance with F. Marzatico and R. Gebhard) Le grandi vie delle civiltà. Relazioni e scambi fra Mediterraneo e il Centro Europa dalla Preistoria alla Romanità. Exhibition catalog Trento 2011 (Trento 2011).
• The barrows of Frög. An Iron Age rulership center in Rosegg (Klagenfurt 2011).
• (Ed. According to F. Marzatico and R. Gebhard) In the light of the south. Encounters of ancient cultures between the Mediterranean and Central Europe (Munich 2011).
• (according to E. Hirtenfelder) Myth Magdalensberg. Pompeii of the Alps and holy summit (Klagenfurt 2014).
• Keutschach and the pile dwellings in Slovenia and Friuli. UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Klagenfurt-Ljubljana-Vienna 2014).

Essays

• To the early settlement picture in the upper and middle Vinschgau including the Munster valley. In: Rainer Loose (ed.): The Vinschgau and its neighboring areas. Lectures at the regional studies symposium in Castle Goldrain 1991 (Bozen 1991), pp. 35–50.
• Raetian, Raetian area and Raetia. In: Geschichte und Region / Storia e regione 1, 1992, pp. 22–30.
• To the Etruscan finds between Adda, Etsch and Inn. In: Helvetia Archaeologia 24 (93-94), 1993, pp. 69-105.
• Burnt sacrifice sites, depot finds and symbols in the Eastern Alps during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. In: Peter Schauer (Hrsg.): Archaeological research on cult events in the younger Bronze Age and early Iron Age in Old Europe. Colloquium Regensburg 1993. Regensburg Contributions to Prehistoric Archeology 2 (Regensburg 1996), pp. 429–449.
• The Celts in the Carinthia area. A state of research. In: E. Jerem / A. Krenn-Leeb / J.-W. Neugebauer / Otto Helmut Urban (ed.): The Celts in the Alps and on the Danube. Files of the International Symposium St. Pölten 1992. Archaeolingua 1 (Budapest-Vienna 1996), pp. 255–266.
• Vallis Norica - Sabiona - Prihsina. On territorial-political issues in the Eisack Valley. In: Helmut Flachenecker / Hans Heiss / Hannes Obermair (eds.): City and Hochstift / Città e Principato. Publications of the South Tyrolean Provincial Archives 12 (Bozen 2000), pp. 27–47.
• Early medieval church building between Salzburg and Aquileia. A contribution to the discussion. In: Contributions to Medieval Archeology Austria 22, 2006, pp. 61–80.
• Because of Illyrians in Carinthia. At the same time: of the persistence of popular doctrines . In: Yearbook of the State Museum for Carinthia . 2006, p. 13–22 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
• To the image program of the Nebra Sky Disc: Ship or sickle? In: Germania 85, 2007, pp. 23-33.
• Sopron - Nové Košariská - Frög. To the picture stories of the calendar mountain culture. In: Praehistorische Zeitschrift 84, 2009, pp. 202–223.
• Celtic, early medieval or Turkish times? For dating simply structured fortifications in the south-eastern Alps. In: Contributions to Medieval Archeology Austria 26, 2010, pp. 7–32.
• Some remarks on the Iceman: his death and his social rank. In: Prehistoric Journal 89/2, 2014, pp. 40–54.

Exhibitions

• Die Räter / I Reti (with Ingrid R. Metzger) (Rätisches Museum, Chur 1991, and in various cities in the countries of the Arge Alp until 1993)
• Sacrificial caves from the Hallstatt period between Franconia and the Adriatic Sea (Museum of the City of Villach, Villach 1998 and State Museum for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1999)
• Things of the gods. Cult during Ötzi's time / In dono agli dei (with Hanns Oberrauch) (South Tyrolean Archaeological Museum, Bozen 2002, and Museum of the City of Villach, Villach 2003)
• Guerrieri, Principi ed Eroi fra il Danubio e il Po dalla Preistoria all'Alto Medioevo (with Franco Marzatico) (Museo del Buonconsiglio, Trento 2003)
• Immersed history. On the beginnings of fishing and shipping in the Alpine region (State Museum for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2006 and Keltenwelt Frög-Rosegg, Rosegg 2007)
• Guest of the Noric Kings (State Museum for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2008)
• In search of Noreia (Keltenwelt Frög-Rosegg, Rosegg 2010/11)
• Le grandi vie delle culture. Relazioni e scambi fra Mediterraneo e il centro Europa dalla Preistoria alla romanità (with Franco Marzatico and Rupert Gebhard) (Museo del Buonconsiglio, Trento 2011)
• In the light of the south. Cultural transfer between the Mediterranean and Central Europe from prehistory to Roman times (with Rupert Gebhard and Franco Marzatico) (State Archaeological Collection, Munich 2011/12)
• Cult car - from the North Sea to the Mediterranean (Keltenwelt Frög-Rosegg, Rosegg 2012)
• The female amulet from Frojach. From the long development of pre-Roman signs of salvation (Keltenwelt Frög-Rosegg, Rosegg 2013)
• 150 years of pile dwelling at Keutschacher See. UNESCO World Heritage (Celtic World Frög-Rosegg, Rosegg 2014)

Web links

• Paul Gleirscher on Academia.edu
• http://www.kleinezeitung.at/kaernten/kaerntnerdestages/2797490/ein-archaeologe-ewiger-suche.story