Thread by @MikeStuchbery_

I've always been interested in how our access to, and mastery of resources has led to cultures spreading and strengthening. That's why I'm fascinated by the ancient salt miners of Hallstatt. /1

Hallstatt is a town in Austria, about 70 km ESE of Salzburg, known to most as being particularly scenic - it's rammed by tourists, mostly Chinese, a lot of the time. However, it's been a centre of attention for far longer. /2

People have lived in Hallstatt for around 5,000 years, primarily due to the presence of large amounts of mineral salt. Before refrigeration, salt was vital in a way we don't understand. It preserved meat & other foods. /2

People had been digging for salt since the Neolithic at Hallstatt,but it was during the Bronze & Iron Ages that they really plumbed the depths. Early miners ventured deep to bring back rock salt, starting around 1500 BCE./3

We know exactly how they mined, because not only are some of their workings preserved, but some of the equipment they used was left behind. The presence of so much salt and little air flow meant that they were excellently preserved. /4

The most impressive of the workings used to help the miners get around is the 8m-long wooden staircase discovered in 2002. It's the oldest wooden staircase in the world, and dates back to around 1344 BCE. /5

Picks made of bones and hard wood were used to break the relatively soft rock salt from the walls, which were then placed into leather backpacks for the trudge back to the surface. Light was provided by small pottery lamps. /6

Amazingly, these artifacts aren't the only traces of Bronze and Iron Age miners - historical records show at least three ‘mummies’ have been pulled from the rock. They were probably buried in cave-ins and lay undisturbed until being found by new workings. /7 (This is a mock-up)

It's difficult to imagine, but there's evidence that deep mining at Hallstatt continued for 1000 years, before a landslide around 350 BCE. The workings would be rediscovered by medieval miners, who began working the site again centuries later. /8

There's also evidence that mining was very, very good for the people of Hallstatt. In the 19th century, a massive cemetery was found full of grave goods from all over Europe - weapons, jewelry, beads, rings and more. Salt made them rich. /9

These graves weren't of princes or nobles, it seemed - there wasn't the proliferation of weapons and other itens we see in 'princely’ graves. These were just people who became wealthy through trade and control of supply. /10

The largest concentration of the graves, in terms of chronology, would give the name to the cultures living in central Europe between 1200 - 600 BCE - Hallstatt A - D. Indeed, the site is still very much active from an archaeological perspective- with much research going on. /11

Salt from Hallstatt made the area a trade centre for millennia, and Salzburg, nearby, became a powerhouse thanks to it. The area is still rich with fortresses and monastic foundations built due to salt. /12

Here's a neat bit of continuity - the people of the Hallstatt cultures were not unknown for displaying the heads of their enemies, or their own revered dead. Seems there's an echo here… /13

...in the charnel house at Hallstatt, the skulls of villagers from generations past are kept on display, and are quite often painted with names dates of death & other symbolism. That's pretty wild, I think. /14

To find out more about the Hallstatt salt mines, and what has been found, this is a good introduction. /15
m.phys.org/news/2018-08-s…

If you want to visit the salt mines and see for yourself the legacy of the miners of old, they'd love to have you at @salzwelten.
salzwelten.at/en/ /16

The 'Celt Museum' at Hallstatt also has one of the largest collections of artifacts from the Bronze and Iron Ages in Austria, outside Vienna keltenmuseum.at

Hope you enjoyed that - I'm pitching to go wrote about the mines there, so fingers crossed, I'll have some more cool stuff about it soon! /FIN