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Evidence for Early Human Presence at High Altitudes in the Ötztal Alps (Austria/Italy)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2016

Walter Kutschera ,
Gernot Patzelt ,
Eva Maria Wild ,
Barbara Haas-Jettmar ,
Werner Kofler ,
Andreas Lippert ,
Klaus Oeggl ,
Edwin Pak ,
Alfred Priller  and
Peter Steier
...Show all authors
Walter Kutschera*
Affiliation:
University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) Laboratory, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Gernot Patzelt
Affiliation:
Patscher Strasse 20, A-6080 Innsbruck-Igls, Austria
Eva Maria Wild
Affiliation:
University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) Laboratory, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Barbara Haas-Jettmar
Affiliation:
University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) Laboratory, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Werner Kofler
Affiliation:
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Botany, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Andreas Lippert
Affiliation:
University of Vienna, Institute of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology, A-1190 Vienna, Austria
Klaus Oeggl
Affiliation:
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Botany, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Edwin Pak
Affiliation:
University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) Laboratory, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Alfred Priller
Affiliation:
University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) Laboratory, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Peter Steier
Affiliation:
University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA) Laboratory, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Notburga Wahlmüller-Oeggl
Affiliation:
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Botany, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Alexander Zanesco
Affiliation:
University of Innsbruck, Institute of Archaeologies, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
*
2. Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

The present article reports on the results and interpretation of a total of 235 radiocarbon dates from Alpine sites in the Ötztal region. Out of these, 88 age determinations were performed on equipment and artifacts associated with the Neolithic Iceman (discovered in 1991), and on a variety of plant and animal specimens collected at his discovery site. Since the material was dispersed over a larger area, 14C dates were important to establish the deposition time of the respective samples. About half of the samples fall into the time period where the Iceman lived, documenting synchronous deposition, whereas the others spread out over several thousand years before and after his lifetime. The other set of samples (147) were collected along the Ötztal Valley to the north, with a few samples collected also south of the Alpine watershed. The samples were mainly from soil profiles and peat bogs above the present-day timberline. Overall, the analysis of the data indicates human presence in these high regions of the Alps throughout the Holocene. While the older botanical and archaeological finds indicate activities of hunting and foraging, the younger ones (after ∼5000 BC) point to an intensification of pasturing. This suggests that early human activity was concentrated at altitudes where natural pastures were found, which were probably more favorable than locations at the bottom of the valleys where flooding and other hazards existed. Early users may have come from south of the water divide spreading into the northern regions, particularly during the summer season. It is possible that the Iceman perished at one of his crossings over the probably well-known high-altitude mountain pass due to reasons not yet fully resolved.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 56 , Issue 3 , 2014 , pp. 923 - 947
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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