Salt transport Ebensee-Gmunden
Traunkirchen - on the salt route
The white gold
The construction worker shovels earth from the building site of the former monastery in Traunkirchen. It's hard work, but the earth is soft and there are only a few stones in the way. But what is this? He hits something hard with the shovel. A metallic noise! Or is it just a stone? That's not what it sounded like. He is an experienced construction worker. He knows what it feels like to hit a stone. This was something else. Carefully he digs further with his hands and uncovers an iron sword.
The cloister of the former monastery was renovated in 1997 and 1998. Here the construction workers come across a prehistoric grave that proves that people lived here long before the monastery's one thousand year history.
95 cremation graves are uncovered. The oldest date from the late Bronze Age, the 10th and 9th centuries BC, and the younger ones from the older Hallstatt period, from the 7th and 8th centuries. There are both simple pits and richly decorated burial mounds with stone-lined burial chambers.
These archaeological finds in Traunkirchen prove that the inhabitants of the settlement at that time enjoyed a certain level of prosperity. Above all, this can be concluded from the rich grave goods, which included ceramic vessels, bronze jewellery and weapons.
Many of the deceased were burned and the graves were furnished with many grave goods for the afterlife. Archaeologists have found vessels with food and drink, tools, jewellery and weapons.
One particularly richly furnished grave is that of a warrior. It contains an iron sword, the remains of an iron knife and six bronze arrowheads. At the shoulder multi-headed pins hold the cloaks together and were considered prestigious pieces of jewellery and status symbols.
The grave was also furnished with sets of ceremonial jewellery, typical of the Hallstatt period. At that time, the belief prevailed that life after death was a perpetual banquet where friends and family sat together for all eternity, enjoying good food and good company. These furnishings characterise an elite and warlike social class.
Archaeologists naturally ask themselves where this wealth came from. The only explanation can be found in the close connection with the salt lords of Hallstatt. The parallel development of the two settlements can be seen from the grave finds.
Hallstatt and the former settlement in Traunkirchen can be seen as the centre and periphery of a prehistoric mining landscape. At its centre is salt, the white gold of the time, which was used to refine dishes but above all to preserve and preserve food. After all, there were no refrigerators or cold stores back then.
However, according to current research, it's still difficult to say what role Traunkirchen played here. Due to the geographical location of the village, it can be assumed that it was an advanced trading post for the Hallstatt salt and a dominant point for the route into the interior of the Salzkammergut.
It is quite conceivable that the settlement functioned as a transshipment point for agricultural products from the region. The necessary foodstuffs, raw materials, livestock and perhaps also labour for the salt mines in Hallstatt could have been supplied from here.
