Bioarchaeological
research in Austria has largely been characterised by the lack of
institutionalisation for nearly a century. In contrast to the long tradition of
biological anthropology research facilities, archaeobotanical and
archaeozoological positions only became established in a period from the 1970s
till the early 1990s. Forming a cornerstone of the Austrian Archaeological
Institute’s integration process into the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the
establishment of ÖAI’s Department for Bioarchaeology in 2016 marks the first
time in 40 years that such a bioarchaeological research unit has been
successfully established as new. The department unites researchers in
archaeobotany, archaeozoology and biological anthropology under the same roof,
and is embedded into the research infrastructure of the country’s largest
non-university research institution. IANSA 2019 ● X/2 ● 167–175 Andreas G.
Heiss, Alfred Galik, Michelle Gamble, Magdalena Srienc, Sabine Ladstätter: The
Department for Bioarchaeology at the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI),
Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) 168 disciplinary and methodological borders.
Aside from the positive effects on communication and cooperation between the
Department for Bioarchaeology and all historical-cultural units of the
institute, synergies with the Department for Restoration and Conservation have
proven to be extremely beneficial, due to the exchange of ideas, the
possibility of supporting bioarchaeological work and archiving with the latest
material knowledge, and the general optimization of workflows. This fact
ensures a high degree of efficiency in the development and implementation of
bioarchaeological and prehistorical and historical research aspects and
strategies. Cross-disciplinary collaborations within the institute have led to
rather unexpected and extremely useful outcomes, one of them being the
generation of photogrammetric models of charred organic food remains (Heiss et
al., 2019b; 2019c). The Department for Bioarchaeology encompasses three
Research Groups (RG): RG Anthropology and Necropoleis, RG Archaeozoology, and
RG Archaeobotany. In contrast to other institutions, the department is
decidedly not intended as a mere biosciences service centre (or “Core Facility”
as termed in Austrian academia). Quite the contrary, aside from the close
integration into the ÖAI’s excavations with a focus on classical archaeology,
the department’s three research groups have their own distinct diachronic and
interdisciplinary research agendas. While there is more information on the ÖAI
website regarding the research groups (see below for links), we will present
some of the research underway at the Department for Bioarchaeology by
geographical area. 3. Geographical areas of research 3.1 Central Europe A major
highlight is the role of the ÖAI in the joint efforts to reinstate the Austrian
research of prehistoric lakeshore settlements (UNESCO World Heritage
“Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps”), fostered and directed by the
Kuratorium Pfahlbauten and the Federal Museum of Upper Austria (Heiss and
Jakobitsch, 2018). Within the framework of the projects “Zeitensprung” and
“Beyond Lake Villages” (FWF I-1693), plant remains from underwater excavations
and hinterland settlements are being analysed, with the goal of reconstructing
settlement activity, economy, nutrition, and land use patterns of the Neolithic
settlers (Jakobitsch et al., 2019a). This research is being complemented by the
investigation of late Neolithic food remains from Austrian, Swiss and southwest
German lakeshore settlements (Heiss, 2017b; Heiss et al., 2017a; Heiss et al.,
submitted), and extensive studies into Neolithic fishing economies of the same
region (Galik, 2009). The latter has been a desideratum for a long time as
evidence for prehistoric fishing is still rare, and new data are dearly needed
(Galik, 1999; 2008a; 2008b; 2013; Galik et al., 2015; Galik and Küchelmann, 2008;
Galik et al., 2011; Haidvogl et al., 2013; Ilon et al., 2017; Yurtseva et al.,
2013; Yurtseva et al., 2015). A project which has recently started, combines
archaeobotanical, archaeoichthyological and palaeohygienic research in the
investigation of dog faeces from pile dwellings in the Neolithic pile dwelling
settlements Črnelnik and Stare gmajne in the Slovenian Ljubljansko barje,
highlighting the role of fish in domestic dogs’ diet (Tolar and Galik, 2019).
The history of fisheries and fishing generally marks a strong research interest
in A. Galik’s work. It is a topic that is heavily influenced by methodological
choices, as the usually very small fishbones are regularly overlooked when only
handpicking is applied in excavations instead of dryor wetsieving of sediment
samples (Bartosiewicz, 1988; De Cupere et al., 1995; Schmölcke and Heinrich,
2006). As a local research starting point, historical fishing and exploitation
behaviour in Austria and other countries can be defined, but the limits are not
set to historical areas. Research initiatives into these materials are also
being made in all other areas of activity of the ÖAI. The Bronze Age settlement
in Drasenhofen, Northern Lower Austria, has been recently published (Galik et
al., 2019). Incorporated into this was an archaeozoological analysis which
demonstrated that animal protein was certainly supplied to the local populace
through the slaughtering of domesticated animals, with cattle, sheep and goat
the most important. While hunting was obviously less important, exploitation of
aquatic resources is evidenced by the presence of fish remains and various
freshwater mussel species. It was particularly interesting to observe the
frequent presence of so-called “sledge runners”, which are worked animal bones,
mainly made of the radii of various mammalian species. Dietary habits, resource
management, and spatial organisation of industrial processes are currently
under investigation at the Late Bronze Age mining site of Prigglitz-Gasteil in
Lower Austria (FWF P 30289). The Department of Bioarchaeology is mainly
involved in the investigation of the procurement strategies for timber, fuel
wood, and food (Jakobitsch et al., 2019b; Trebsche et al., 2019; Wiesinger et
al., 2019). The large La Tène period lowland settlement of Haselbach is part of
the research focus of a long-term research project directed by S. Fichtl
(Université de Strasbourg) and P. Trebsche (University of Innsbruck). RG
Archaeobotany is involved in the analysis and evaluation of the high resolution
microstratigraphical and archaeobotanical sampling (Heiss and Wiesinger,
2018b), and is aimed at elucidating local agricultural economy, and its spatial
organisation. Our anthropological research has begun to contribute to the
archaeology of the eastern Alpine region, where it was, until now, rare for
cemeteries to be comprehensively studied. The project “Life in times of
change”, financed by a Hertha-Firnberg scholarship of the FWF, awarded to M.
Binder, is dedicated to research on the living conditions in the Eastern Alps
at the transition between Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages (5th/6th century
AD), based on the human skeletal remains from the two neighbouring cemeteries
of Hemmaberg and Globasnitz in southern Carinthia. Recording of the osteobiographical
data is being carried out by M. Srienc, along with several students in the
bioarchaeological IANSA 2019 ● X/2 ● 167–175 Andreas G. Heiss, Alfred Galik,
Michelle Gamble, Magdalena Srienc, Sabine Ladstätter: The Department for
Bioarchaeology at the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI), Austrian Academy
of Sciences (ÖAW) 169 research laboratory of the ÖAI. In correlation to this
project, excavations which are being conducted by the ÖAI at Jaunstein/Podjuna
in southern Carinthia, are adding to the human skeletal evidence for life and
lifeways in the Eastern Alps. The anthropological analysis of the skeletal
material from this site will be directly comparable to that from Globasnitz and
Hemmaberg, and will form a portion of the PhD research of M. Srienc. In an
associated project, the unknown saint excavated at Hemmaberg in 1992, whose
skeleton is in a reliquary shrine below the altar of one of the churches of the
pilgrimage shrine, was also investigated in a multidisciplinary project. This
has now been published in a book (Binder and Ladstätter, 2018). In co-operation
with project leader J. Eitler, the project “Cult continuity at the summit of
the Hemmaberg” (FWF – 29452-G25) started 2017, and follows the research
tradition of the Institute, but also incorporates significant bioarchaeological
research to understanding this complex, multi-period site (Binder et al., 2016;
Forstenpointner and Gernot, 1999; Gaggl, 1996; Galik et al., 2018; Heiss,
2018). This integrated research has acquired a unique position in Austria, with
a close co-operation with the Federal Monuments Office, as well as with
regional museums, and has provided a wealth of new information on this site,
from the Bronze Age through the Medieval period. In addition to these
site-specific research projects, a joint project between the University of
Warsaw and the ÖAI is being developed, which aims to understand the connection
between the Roman road system and early medieval migration. In another “cult
project”, the investigation of archaeozoological finds from a Mithras cave at
Gradišče, Figure 1. Biological anthropologist M. Srienc. Image: ÖAW-ÖAI/N.
Gail.