»Prehistoric Identities« emerge from the interaction between humans, animals, plants, material culture and landscapes. The research group embarks on a new way of identity research that discusses contextual information on equal footing with bioarchaeological data. Current research topics are sex and gender, kinship, marriage patterns and genetic inheritance, as well as foodways, mobility, migration and the experience of being foreign. Case studies from Austria and neighbouring countries form the foundation of a contextualization of these themes within European prehistory.

The Value of Mothers to Society
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The Value of Mothers to Society

Analysing the link between reproduction and women’s social status, this project explores social responses to pregnancy, birth and childrearing from the late Neolithic to the late Iron Age (c. 3000–15 BC) through case studies in central Europe.

The social status of motherhood in Bronze Age Europe

The social status of motherhood in Bronze Age Europe

This project focused on developping a methodology to investigate motherhood through pelvic changes in female human remains.

Together in Life – Together in Death

Together in Life – Together in Death

This interdisciplinary project explores personal relations, gender and family structures at Bronze Age communities across the Austrian and Czech border (c. 1600–800 BC).

Unlocking the secrets of cremated human remains
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Unlocking the secrets of cremated human remains

Based on cremation cemeteries in Austria, this interdisciplinary project investigates ritual practices, gender mobility and social relations in Late Bronze Age using new bioarchaeological methods.

Early Bronze Age burials at Franzhausen
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Early Bronze Age burials at Franzhausen

The early Bronze Age cemeteries Franzhausen I and II with over 2200 burials provide the data basis for this research cooperation.

Archaeology at the Danube

Archaeology at the Danube

The Bisamberg pilot project aims to document traces of settlement as well as antiquarian archaeological excavations on Vienna’s famous local mountain by means of geophysical prospection, and to assign the prehistoric finds to the individual sites.

CoPOWER
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CoPOWER

CoPOWER adopts state-of-the-art archaeological and bioarchaeological approaches to investigate the transition to urban society and the rise of increasingly sophisticated social control mechanisms in Europe, c. 2000–500 BC.

Investigating sex-based differences in Bronze Age childcare

Investigating sex-based differences in Bronze Age childcare

Early Bronze Age communities in Central Europe buried male and female bodies differently. Bodies are placed either on the left or right body side in the grave, with the head towards the north or south, and gender-typical grave good may accompany the dead.…

SKIN

SKIN

SKIN explores relatedness beyond biological links in European Copper and Bronze Age societies.

Alpine Interdependenzen

Alpine Interdependenzen

Das Pilotprojekt „Alpine Interdependenzen“ analysiert die Mensch-Umwelt-Interaktionen im Dachsteingebirge über die letzten Jahrtausende. Fragen nach den Auswirkungen früher Hochweidenutzung sowie klimatischer Veränderungen werden untersucht.

DE-STRESS: Detecting cortisol in teeth

DE-STRESS: Detecting cortisol in teeth

Stress influences health, wellbeing and life experience. However, assessing stress in the past is challenging, as stress biomarkers in soft tissues degrade over time. Recently, the ‘stress’ hormone cortisol has been detected in teeth from living people and…

Mining and Dining

Mining and Dining

We are investigating the dietary habits of Bronze and Iron Age miners by analysing human excrements from the prehistoric salt mines of Hallstatt. The aim of the project is to create highly precise individual dietary profiles.