Category: Thematic EU Projects

Iron Age Danube

The project “Monumentalized Early Iron Age Landscapes in the Danube river basin” (Iron Age Danube) is led by Joanneum Universal Museum with 20 partners from Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia, co-financed by the Interreg Danube Transnational program.

The project focused on the archaeological heritage from the older Iron Age (Hallstatt period; around 800-400 B.C.), famous for monumental burial mounds, fortified hilltop settlements and iron and salt mining. The project partnership consisted of monument preservation offices, museums, universities, tourist associations and municipalities. They set themselves the goal of developing joint transnational strategies for the research, conservation and sustainable touristic use of this fragile archaeological heritage.

In Austria, the focus was on two regions with extraordinarily rich archaeological heritage: the microregions of Grossklein and Strettweg, known in particular for the bronze mask from Kröllkogel hill and the cult chariot from Strettweg. In both regions a new format was implemented, the so-called archaeological camp. During the camps, international partners conducted joint research at the sites and presented the results to a broad audience in a series of events.

The project also implemented some milestones in the digital domain. Hallstatt heritage from four countries was compiled, compared and evaluated in a database that is freely accessible at https://www.iron-age-danube.eu/. In addition, the partners developed a tourism app and an eLearning tool that can be downloaded for free.

The project was selected as a finalist in the 2018 RegioStars competition. The RegioStars Awards are a European Commission recognition award for the most inspiring and innovative regional projects supported by EU Cohesion Policy funding. A jury of 15 members evaluated 102 projects from across Europe and came up with a list of 21 finalists from 20 countries, divided into five categories. The Iron Age Danube project was among the five finalists in the category “Investment in Cultural Heritage.”

For more information on the project: http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/iron-age-danube and https://www.iron-age-danube.eu/.

Contact/Promoter
Joanneum Universal Museum
Department of Archaeology and Coin Cabinet
Eggenberger Allee 90
A-8020 Graz
T: + 43 316 8017 9560
archaeologie@museum-joanneum.at
www.museum-joanneum.at

Text: Dr. Marko Mele