2005: Traces Part I - From the Beakman to the Dwarf City

approx. 8000 BC – 610 AD

The presentation "From the Beakman to the Dwarf City" documents the prehistoric, Roman, and late antique settlement of East Tyrol based on selected archaeological finds.

The key points of the period from approx. 8000 BC to 610 AD are linked to archaeological sites and the historical legends associated with them – about Beakmen on the Lappachalm with Mesolithic finds in the vicinity and about the architectural remains of the city of Aguntum destroyed in 610 AD, which were interpreted as a Dwarf City.

For the Mesolithic period (approx. 9500 - 5500 BC), tools made of flint (firestone) and rock crystal from Staller Sattel and Hirschbühel demonstrate the hunting activities of nomadic hunter groups in the high mountain region of the Defereggen Valley.

For the Neolithic period (approx. 5500 - 2200 BC), various individual finds and excavations on the hilltop of Breitegg near Nußdorf-Debant reveal the advancing settlement with cultural influences from the Etschtal and Slovenia. Circularly arranged ibex skulls around fireplaces at the Gradonner Stein in Kals suggest ritual practices.

Copper mining is a driving force for economic growth from the Bronze Age (approx. 2200 - 800 BC). Population influx from the south and the integration of East Tyrol into the Laugen-Melaun culture could be directly related to mining. The Iron Age cremation burial field

Welzelach – Mountain with probably the most significant prehistoric find in East Tyrol – the figuratively decorated situla depicting a rabbit hunt – demonstrates prosperity through mining and metal trade. East Tyrol now belongs to the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture. This culture disappears with the Roman occupation of the Alpine region in 16/15 BC, and East Tyrol becomes part of the Roman province of Noricum. The municipium Aguntum becomes the center of economic and social life.

An exhibition of the city of Lienz in cooperation with the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum Innsbruck.

The catalog for the exhibition

The three-volume work on the exhibition series