The research group »Quaternary Archaeology« studies in an interdisciplinary fashion Palaeolithic societies up to the gradual sedentism of humans at the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene periods. The emphasis is on the adaptation and innovation of technological and socio-economic concepts of Upper Palaeolithic hunters and gatherers against the background of the climatic and environmental developments of the Pleistocene era. Geographically, the focus lies on open air sites in the mid-Danubian region and north-eastern Romania in the time covering 40,000 up to 15,000 years before today.

Gobelsburg-Rossgraben

Gobelsburg-Rossgraben

During excavation work in their wine cellar, a winemaker from Lower Austria came across large animal bones. A team from the ÖAI was able to confirm that these were mammoth bones. The site is characterized by an unusual density and thickness of the bone layer, which…

Kammern-Grubgraben
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Kammern-Grubgraben

Since 2015, excavations have been carried out at the well-known Upper Palaeolithic site of Kammern-Grubgraben. The site is characterised by exceptional stone features and finds, including numerous jewellery objects.

Success, Boundaries and Failures of Subsistence Strategies in eastern Central Europe during the early Gravettian and the Last Glacial Maximum
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Success, Boundaries and Failures of Subsistence Strategies in eastern Central Europe during the early Gravettian and the Last Glacial Maximum

Krems-Wachtberg
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Krems-Wachtberg

After 10 years of field research at the Gravettian site of Krems-Wachtberg, the data obtained will be evaluated and published on an ongoing basis. The site is characterised by a partially preserved in situ find layer with an infant double burial of monozygotic…

Comparing Upper Palaeolithic sequences across the Carpathians

Comparing Upper Palaeolithic sequences across the Carpathians

Project aim is a comparison of Upper Palaeolithic records and sediment archives of the Krems area in northeast Austria and the Ceahlău Basin in the eastern Carpathians. At the current stage, data collection in the Ceahlău Basin is intensified by fieldwork conducted…

MAMBA

MAMBA

The main goal of the Horizon ERC-2021-COG project “Exploring Mammoth Bone Accumulations in Central Europe (MAMBA)” is the investigation of mammoth bone concentrations deposited in conjunction with Upper Palaeolithic artefacts at the fringes of the Western…

The Red Ochre Project
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The Red Ochre Project

This interdisciplinary study deals with the pigments from the burials and settlement layers of the Gravettian site Krems-Wachtberg. The focus is on pigment analysis, investigations into the origin of the colour raw materials as well as conclusions about the…

Raw material project

Raw material project

Austrian Quaternary Sites
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Austrian Quaternary Sites

The project deals with the creation, maintenance and further development of the Quaternary Archaeology research group's site database. By feeding in data from fieldwork and material recording, the database also plays a central role in the evaluation of the…

Gog & Magog

Gog & Magog

Radiolarite mining in Vienna before the Neolithic?
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Radiolarite mining in Vienna before the Neolithic?

Since 2017, silicite deposits and their prehistoric use are investigated in Vienna. Amongst the approximately 30 detected quarrying and workshop sites one assemblage is particularly intriguing due to technological aspects and the high amount of thermally altered…

Tschatter Stones

Tschatter Stones

Die „Süßwasser-Opale“ vom Csaterberg wurden als leicht verfügbare Rohmaterialquelle über lange Zeiten hinweg zur Werkzeugherstellung genutzt. Das Projekt untersucht dieses Thema in seiner ganzen Komplexität, angefangen von paläontologisch-geologischen Aspekten über…

Gravettian open-air site with fireplace in Gösing am Wagram
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Gravettian open-air site with fireplace in Gösing am Wagram

Großweikersdorf-Kogel
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Großweikersdorf-Kogel

Stratzing
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Stratzing

Stone technology in South Africa in MIS 5

Stone technology in South Africa in MIS 5