Circoli Austriaci

Un'interessante scoperta archeologica sta facendo una certa sensazione negli ambienti archeologici in Austria, proprio grazie alla fotografia aerea: nella zona del Burgenland sono stati rinvenuti i resti inequivocabili di due zone circolari, costruite dall'uomo, databili al 7.000 a.C. (Neolitico), circondate da un fossato ed internamente delimitate da una palizzata con numerose entrate.

Esistono strutture simili nella Baviera austriaca e nel Weinviertel, ma queste sono le prime scoperte nel Burgenland.
Si pensa che si trattasse di zone con valenza sacrale e forse adibite anche all'osservazione del cielo (si trovano sempre in zone leggermente declinanti, che offrono una vasta visione del cielo).
Il pensiero va subito alla molto più famosa Stonehenge, che però è di circa 2000 anni più recente.

7,000 year old circular earthworks found in Austria 

  In a sensational find for Austrian archaeologists, aerial photographs taken two years ago on the southern outskirts of the Burgenland town of Rechnitz have revealed the existence of circular trenches dating back to the Neolithic Period. 

Aerial photos have revealed the existence of circular trenches dating back to the Neolithic  Period on the southern outskirts of the Burgenland town of Rechnitz 

[Credit: Aerial Archive,  Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology, University of Vienna] 

The mysterious millennia-old sites are currently being surveyed by experts who believe they once served both as a giant calendar and a place for rituals. 
It appears that circa 5,000 BC there was a large circular area in a field on the southern outskirts of Rechnitz, surrounded by wooden poles. It was only after aerial photographs were taken of the district that remnants of an ancient trench system became visible. Archaeologist Klaus Löcker told the ORF that the concentric circular trenches - some up to four metres deep - will now be made visible using magnetic measuring techniques. Inside the trenches are defensive walls with multiple entrances. 

Reconstruction of circular ditches at Heldenberg, Lower Austria 
[Credit: WikiCommons] 

Descriptions of Rechnitz's history usually state the area was settled in the Celtic period, around 500 BC. It now appears there was in fact a human settlement in the area over 5,000 years before Christ. 

"This is quite unique in Burgenland," said Mayor Engelbert Kenyeri. 

The purpose of these circular earthworks has long puzzled experts, but it now seems they were used as a calendar, and held ritual significance for neighbouring populations. 

"That is roughly equivalent to Stonehenge, only about 2,000 years older," said archaeologist Franz Sauer. 
The criteria for site selection are a complete mystery. There are similar trench systems in Austria's Weinviertel and Bavaria, however the two discovered at Rechnitz are the first in Burgenland. "Such circular trenches are always positioned on a gentle slope, in order to give a clear view of the sky for the observation of the heavenly bodies," explained Sauer.

 The advent of aerial archaeology in the 1970s has enabled the study of ancient sites to take on a whole new dimension. 


Source: The Local [July 17, 2014]

Read more at: http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.it/2014/07/7000-year-old-circular-earthworks-found.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheArchaeologyNewsNetwork+(The+Archaeology+News+Network)#.U81Gcih7DfU
Follow us: @ArchaeoNewsNet on Twitter | groups/thearchaeologynewsnetwork/ on Facebook

Willendorf

La cosiddetta "Venere di Willendorf"

La "Venere di Willendorf" è un idoletto femminile, alto circa 11 centimetri, del periodo Gravettiano ( cioé 30.000/22.000 anni fa). Recentemente è stato esaminato accuratamente, presso il Museo di Storia Naturale di Vienna.

Ecco i risultati:

1) La pietra calcarea da cui è stata ricavata la statuetta proviene quasi certamente dalla zona di Brno, nella regione della Moravia, più esattamente da circa 136 chilometri a Nord Est di Willendorf.

2) Le lame di selce rinvenute insieme alla Venere provengono da una zona del Nord Moravia, altri 150 chilometri più a nord.

3) La Venere era interamente dipinta di ocra rossa e - considerate le associazioni simboliche rituali di questo materiale - con ogni probabilità la statuetta era un oggetto di culto.

___________________________________________

Aspetto microscopico di una sezione di oolite.

Aspetto esteriore dell'oolite.

Dopo estensive analisi comparative computerizzate, si è potuto concludere che la pietra calcarea con la quale la statuina fu realizzata è Oolite, una pietra formata da innumerevoli calcoliti (altrettanti scheletri di animali una volta marini), che possono provenire solamente da una zona, che presenta quella peculiarità: Stranska Skala, un massiccio calcareo  presso la città di Brno (Brunn).

Zona  di Stranska Skala, nella Repubblica Ceka, dove si trova il giacimento della pietra da cui è stata ricavata la Venere di Willendorf. Tra Brno e Willendorf si trova il sito della venere di Dolni Vestonie

L'analisi degli strumenti litici risalenti all'Era Glaciale della zona di Willendorf, insieme ad accurati studi di provenienza, dimostrano che fino al 30% delle lame litiche del periodo Gravettiano erano ottenute dalla cosiddetta selce settentrionale. Questo materiale non è mai stato reperibile sul Danubio, ma deve essere stato portato nella regione di Willendorf dal Nord. Le lunghe e sottili lame litiche, fatte di selce di alta qualità sono veramente eccezionali. Ma nella zona di Willendorf mancano anche nuclei adatti dai quali tagliarle ed affilarle, il che lascia intuire che dette lame dovevano essere già state completate, quando giunsero sul Danubio: i nuclei furono abbandonati sul posto d'origine.  Non v'è dubbio che questo indichi anche uno spostamento dei proprietari/costruttori di dette lame di selce, da Nord fino a Willendorf.

Selce della zona morenica della Moravia.

Questi ritrovamenti dimostrano che le popolazioni del Gravettiano seguivano lunghi percorsi migratori stagionali tra campi estivi ed invernali. Probabilmente, trascorrevano il periodo estivo o della stagione più calda nei più freschi altopiani, mentre nella stagione fredda si stanziavano nell'area della valle del Danubio.
Lungo il percorso, passavano attraverso la zona dei nuclei di selce, i depositi morenici del Nord della Moravia, ove potevano raccogliere i nuclei con i quali confezionare le lame e gli strumenti, per poi portarli con sé (probabilmente avvolti in pelli d'animale, perché non si smussassero per attrito reciproco; ndt) fino al Danubio durante la stagione più rigida.

Dettaglio della testa, con evidenziazione dei calcoliti dell'oolite.

L'intera superficie della statuetta doveva essere ricoperta di ocra rossa. Le notazioni del ritrovamento, nel 1908, della Venere di Willendorf riportano che la statuetta fosse interamente ricoperta da uno spesso strato di ocra rossa. Ma sembra che una troppo zelante operazione di pulizia l'abbia rimossa quasi totalmente.
La piccola statuetta possedeva - con ogni probabilità - una funzione cultuale o religiosa, dato che nel periodo Gravettiano il colore rosso dell'ocra è spesso rappresentato come un colore sacro ed è usato nei riti di sepoltura. Molte statuette erano seppellite insieme ai corpi in piccole buche. E' ipotizzabile che cacciatori nomadi dell'Età della Pietra  portassero con sé siffatti idoli quando migravano (o transumavano) da un campo all'altro. 

Si nota ancora la presenza di ocra rossa tra le 'pieghe cutanee' della statuetta.

Esame microscopico della statuetta

Alexander Binsteiner

Dipl.Geol.Univ. Alexander Binsteiner examined in his thesis the chert deposit of Baierdorf at Ried castle in Altmühltal. After that, he was a field director of excavations at the flint mine of Arnhofen near Abensberg. From 1993-96 he was chief geologist of the Ötzi Project at the University of Innsbruck. Today he divides his time as a freelance geoarchaeologist between Austria, Bavaria and the Czech Republic.

tatuaggio terapeutico

Ötzi the iceman's tattoos may be an early form of 'acupuncture'

Tattoos are traditionally used to decorate the skin, but now archaeologists believe skin etchings discovered on a 5,000-year-old mummy could have been intended as therapy.

The leathery remains of Otzi the iceman, the Stone Age hunter who emerged from a melting alpine glacier after 5,000 years [Credit: South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology]

The marks found on Ötzi the iceman reveal that tattoos could have been used as a primitive form of acupuncture.

The iceman's tattoos are largely seen on the parts of his body that endured wear-and-tear, causing archaeologists to liken the practice of tattooing to acupuncture, which is itself an ancient treatment for joint distress.

Ötzi's body art is the only known example of real-life ancient tattoos and reveal how the marks were made in Copper Age Europe.

The ice man's tattoos are largely seen on parts of the body that endured wear-and-tear, causing archaeologists to like the practice to acupuncture, which is itself an ancient treatment for joint distress. Radiological images of the tattooed areas of the mummy show degenerative areas under the tattoos that could have caused pain [Credit: South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology]

Writing in the publication Archaeology, U.S. experts Jarrett A. Lobell and Eric A. Powell said Ötzi's body, which was almost perfectly preserved in ice, provides unique evidence of early medicine for archaeologists.

They said Ötzi got his 50 tattoos - most of which are lines and crosses - by enduring a series of small incisions in his skin, which were then rubbed with charcoal to make the marks.

'Because they are all found on parts of the body that show evidence of a lifetime of wear and tear - the ankles, wrists, knees, Achilles tendon, and lower back, for example - it’s thought that Ötzi’s tattoos were therapeutic, not decorative or symbolic,' they added.

Ötzi's tattoos are the only known examples of real-life ancient tattoos as all other examples are found in artwork at the time and reveal how the marks were made in Copper Age EuropeOtzi Iceman Tattoo [Credit: South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology]

When the mummy was first studied, experts were shocked at Ötzi's tattooed skin as they had never seen real examples of Copper Age tattoos before.

They were also surprised as it is popularly thought that acupuncture was invented more than 2,000 years later in Asia and the mummy's markings look like they have been made over joints under stress such as the ankles and wrists.

They wrote: 'Of course we can't be absolutely sure why these tattoos were placed in those locations. It's possible Ötzi's people believed those regions of the body were spiritually significant. Still, it's very possible that this was an early effort at acupuncture.'

Most of Otzi's tattoos are lines (pictured) and crosses found on major joints of his body. The mummy is specially illuminated here to show the tattoos clearly [Credit: South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology]

If this is the case, it would appear that the tattoos were not originally intended to be merely decorative or symbolic, but could have been used as a kind of medicine to treat ailments like rheumatism, and arthritis, which are also treated using acupuncture.

A spokesman for the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, told Mail Online:' It seems common opinion that the Iceman tattoos are not ornamental but therapeutic tattoos for pain relief.

'Radiological images of the tattooed areas show degenerative areas under the tattoos that could have caused pain. As the tattooing spots lie approximately over the acupuncture medians, it seems common opinion that they could have been use for that.'

It would appear that the tattoos were not originally intended to be merely decorative or symbolic, but could have been sued as a kind of medicine to treat ailments like rheumatism, and arthritis, which are also treated using acupuncture [Credit: South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology]

Professor Frank Rühli, head of the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich, told Mail Online the tattoos were probably a combination of decorative art and therapy.

He said that while there might be a connection to suggest the tattoos functioned as a form of ancient acupuncture, it is difficult to see which ailments the mummy suffered from, so an indication of the marks being therapeutic is 'likely' but cannot be proven as there are not a number of similar bodies to study, found in the same location that are the same age.

The spokesman for the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology said that if indeed the tattoos were created as a form of acupuncture, 'people of the Iceman's times would have known not only about nature around them, but also about the human body and its reactions - I think this is remarkable.'

While the reasons for creating the tattoos may not be agreed upon, archaeologists believe that judging by the clothing, tools and weapons found with the mummy frozen in the Alps on the Austrian, Italian border two decades ago, Ötzi was a herder or a chieftain in Copper Age Europe.

Author: Sarah Griffiths | Source: Daily Mail [October 28, 2013]

Oetzi, legami genetici con gli austriaci.

Link to Oetzi the Iceman found in living Austrians

Austrian scientists have found that 19 Tyrolean men alive today are related to Oetzi the Iceman, whose 5,300-year-old frozen body was found in the Alps.

Oetzi's genome was published in February, indicating his probable eye
colour and blood type [Credit: S. Marco/EURAC]

Their relationship was established through DNA analysis by scientists from the Institute of Legal Medicine at Innsbruck Medical University.

The men have not been told about their connection to Oetzi. The DNA tests were taken from blood donors in Tyrol.

A particular genetic mutation was matched, the APA news agency reports.

Oetzi's body was found frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991.

Walther Parson from the Institute told APA, the Austrian Press Agency, that the same mutation might be found in the nearby Swiss region of Engadine and in Italy's South Tyrol region.

"We have already found Swiss and Italian partners so that we can pursue our research," he said.

He was quoted as saying DNA had been analysed from 3,700 men who had given blood donations in Tyrol. They also provided data on their ancestry.

Women were not included in the study, as a different procedure would be required to match their genes.

Since Oetzi was first found by hikers with an arrow buried in his back, experts have determined that he died from his wounds. There has been extensive debate as to whether he fell where he died or was buried there by others.

Source: BBC News Website [October 10, 2013]