Burial ground in Hallstatt

An archaeological global sensation

The burial ground in Hallstatt is one of the most significant archaeological excavation sites in the world. The Early Iron Age in Central Europe is not called “Hallstatt culture” for nothing.

It is discovered, as is often the case with important archaeological finds, by accident. The first finds turn up in the course of gravel extraction in 1846. The foreman of the salt mine at the time, Johann Georg Ramsauer, realises the significance of the objects and exposes nearly 1,000 graves by 1863. At the beginning of the 20th century another, larger area of burial ground is discovered when a road is constructed.

Experts from the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, who still conduct regular excavations here today, estimate that nearly 6,000 people are buried at the burial ground in Hallstatt in the period between 800 and 500 BC.

Above all, the exceedingly valuable burial objects are of importance. Pottery and valuable jewellery, but also bronze and iron swords with ornate ivory handles are found. Luxury goods showing that the population of Hallstatt have ties and trade with other peoples throughout Europe even in this early era.

Those buried here are the real sensation however. For the traces of wear found on the preserved skeletons show that most of the dead have laboured hard. These are not noble rulers but rather prehistoric miners who became wealthy through salt mining and trade and could therefore be buried in princely fashion.

You can get to the burial ground at Hallstatt with the panoramic funicular railway. To get to the station, go to the tourist information centre at the village entrance and cross Salzbergstraße.