Talks by Stephanie E. Metz
Due to the current rate glacial erosion in the alpine region, more archaeological and organic rem... more Due to the current rate glacial erosion in the alpine region, more archaeological and organic remains are revealed than ever before. These finds span the last 10,000 years of human history, creating new and exiting datasets for not only archaeology, but other related subjects as well. Of particular interest have been prehistoric finds, notably at Similaun (“Ötzi the ice man”) in 1991, and more recently at the Schnidejoch and Lötschenpass in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. The high level of preservation from having been encased in ice for thousands of years means that these examples and others have helped to shed light on the poorly understood early use of high-alpine landscapes. Thus, the data are of important value for multiple disciplines, namely Forensic Anthropology, Zooarchaeology, Archaeobotany, Glaciology, and Climatology. While the research potential in this field is clear, to date there has been little work done either to understand or protect these critically endangered cultural heritage assets. Indeed, previous academic work has highlighted just how important the development of a methodology is to systematically study the glacial archaeological data in the Austrian alpine region before it disappears. Thus, the aim of the GAAA Project will be the systematic identification of areas of high archaeological potential in the Tyrol and Vorarlberg regions of Austria. To this end, the project will work on a three-tiered level of engagement with the data via development of methodological practice and theory, fieldwork and community outreach/public relations. The very short window of maximum ice melt from August to September necessitates the development of a framework to be able to detect and evaluate potential findspots in advance. With the help of GIS, predictive models will be generated to identify areas of potential interest. These parameters of these models will be based on both cultural and environmental geospatial factors. The framework for these models will ultimately enable a targeted survey of potential findspots which will then be monitored for the appearance of archaeological material.
CAA International Conference 2016 Oslo - Session 02: Using GIS modeling to solve real-world archaeological problems
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The so called Münchshöfener Culture (dating from ca. 4600–3800 BC) is mainly distributed across t... more The so called Münchshöfener Culture (dating from ca. 4600–3800 BC) is mainly distributed across the Upper Danube and its southern contributing streams. Little is known about settlement structures, function of causewayed enclosures and burial practices. This is not only a matter of state of research, but mainly due to the lack of published data. Thus in this study all registered sites are systematically assembled via the digital archives (Fachinformationssystem/FIS) provided by the Bavarian State Conservation Office (BLfD). Further published sites located outside of Bavaria are also incorporated. This data set is analysed with GIS methodologies in order to gain an idea about the cultural interactions between the Münchshöfener Culture's population and its environment. The distribution of different types of archaeological sites lead to tendencies that show zones of potential socio-economic activity.
This paper aims to shed light on the Münchshöfener Culture's settlement structures by using the most updated database since L. Süß 1976.
The results presented are to be seen as work in progress as upcoming analyses still need to be performed. Future work will include i. a.: Visibility maps should help to evaluate the relation between burials and settlement features. Accessibility maps regarding least-cost path analyses including natural resources such as flint stones and copper should deliver information about economic processes. Stratified pollen data can also be taken into account for estimating the past vegetation composition respectively the past cultural landscape. Diachronic approach including the Altheimer Culture.
EAA Glasgow 2015 – AR16: GIS and Spatial Analysis
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Glacial Archaeology in the Austria Alps (GAAA) by Stephanie E. Metz
The discovery of the "Man from the Ice" in the Ötztal Alps showed that the glaciers in the Alps h... more The discovery of the "Man from the Ice" in the Ötztal Alps showed that the glaciers in the Alps have been frequented by people of the prehistory for a long period. Since then intensive efforts started to locate glacial finds in North- and East Tyrol.
This paper will present older finds like the remains of the "poacher" Norbert Mattersberger from East Tyrol, who went missing 1839 at the "Gradetzkees" and showed up again in 1929, as well as the JU52, a cargo plane, which had to make an emergency landing at the Umbalkees in East Tyrol in the 1940ties. In scope of this paper we also will present the newest discoveries, which were found in the course of the glacier-archaeological prospections of the GAAA-Project.
Due to the urgency to locate potential archaeological sites to avoid the loss of culturally significant remains, the GAAA project seeks to determine areas of high interest using GIS. Furthermore, this paper also presents the methodological framework that has been developed by the project thus far, as well as implications for its further employment.
Frozen Pasts - 4th International Glacial Archaeology Symposium, Innsbruck 2016
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The Glacial Archaeology in the Austrian Alps (GAAA) project represents pioneer work being first o... more The Glacial Archaeology in the Austrian Alps (GAAA) project represents pioneer work being first of its kind in Austria. Due to the urgency of losing culturally significant archaeological sites in the region, the GAAA project seeks to determine areas of high interest using GIS. Spatial analyses and predictive methods can be used to diagnose areas of high archaeological potential by incorporating geographic, cultural and historic parameters into GIS.
This poster presents the methodological framework developed by the project thus far, as well as its preliminary results. Implications for further work within the parameters of the project are also introduced. Currently glacierized or recently deglacierized high altitude mountain passes located in our study area are selected to perform locational analyses based on the physical characteristics of the terrain. Glacier extents from the Austrian Glacier Inventory 1969, 1998 and 2004-2012 as well as of the Little Ice Age are used to conduct Emerging Hot Spot Analysis. Data on glacier outlines from 1985, 2003 and 2013 for the Hohe Tauern National Park (East Tyrol) has been kindly provided by B. Robson & D. Hölbling (Robson et al., 2016). Further, the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) dataset is cross-checked and of which glacier outlines on the border of Austria and Italy were used. Zones of archaeological significance are predicted using a so-called connectivity surface. The surface represents a calculation of the associated increases in the cost of travel in relation to the best routes through the Alps via calories burnt. Adjustments for carrying up to 25kg in extra weight are also included. Areas that are easier to cross are assumed to have been used more frequently and would thus be more likely to hold cultural remains.
Frozen Pasts - 4th International Glacial Archaeology Symposium, Innsbruck 2016
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Papers by Stephanie E. Metz
Human mobility has been vigorously debated as a key factor for the spread of bronze technology an... more Human mobility has been vigorously debated as a key factor for the spread of bronze technology and profound changes in burial practices as well as material culture in central Europe at the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. However, the relevance of individual residential changes and their importance among specific age and sex groups are still poorly understood. Here, we present ancient DNA analysis, stable isotope data of oxygen, and radiogenic isotope ratios of strontium for 84 radiocarbon-dated skeletons from seven archaeological sites of the Late Neolithic Bell Beaker Complex and the Early Bronze Age from the Lech River valley in southern Bavaria, Germany. Complete mitochondrial genomes documented a diversification of maternal lineages over time. The isotope ratios disclosed the majority of the females to be nonlocal, while this is the case for only a few males and subadults. Most nonlocal females arrived in the study area as adults, but we do not detect their offspring among the sampled individuals. The striking patterns of patrilocality and female exogamy prevailed over at least 800 y between about 2500 and 1700 BC. The persisting residential rules and even a direct kinship relation across the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age add to the archaeological evidence of continuing traditions from the Bell Beaker Complex to the Early Bronze Age. The results also attest to female mobility as a driving force for regional and supraregional communication and exchange at the dawn of the European metal ages.
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Talks by Stephanie E. Metz
CAA International Conference 2016 Oslo - Session 02: Using GIS modeling to solve real-world archaeological problems
This paper aims to shed light on the Münchshöfener Culture's settlement structures by using the most updated database since L. Süß 1976.
The results presented are to be seen as work in progress as upcoming analyses still need to be performed. Future work will include i. a.: Visibility maps should help to evaluate the relation between burials and settlement features. Accessibility maps regarding least-cost path analyses including natural resources such as flint stones and copper should deliver information about economic processes. Stratified pollen data can also be taken into account for estimating the past vegetation composition respectively the past cultural landscape. Diachronic approach including the Altheimer Culture.
EAA Glasgow 2015 – AR16: GIS and Spatial Analysis
Glacial Archaeology in the Austria Alps (GAAA) by Stephanie E. Metz
This paper will present older finds like the remains of the "poacher" Norbert Mattersberger from East Tyrol, who went missing 1839 at the "Gradetzkees" and showed up again in 1929, as well as the JU52, a cargo plane, which had to make an emergency landing at the Umbalkees in East Tyrol in the 1940ties. In scope of this paper we also will present the newest discoveries, which were found in the course of the glacier-archaeological prospections of the GAAA-Project.
Due to the urgency to locate potential archaeological sites to avoid the loss of culturally significant remains, the GAAA project seeks to determine areas of high interest using GIS. Furthermore, this paper also presents the methodological framework that has been developed by the project thus far, as well as implications for its further employment.
Frozen Pasts - 4th International Glacial Archaeology Symposium, Innsbruck 2016
This poster presents the methodological framework developed by the project thus far, as well as its preliminary results. Implications for further work within the parameters of the project are also introduced. Currently glacierized or recently deglacierized high altitude mountain passes located in our study area are selected to perform locational analyses based on the physical characteristics of the terrain. Glacier extents from the Austrian Glacier Inventory 1969, 1998 and 2004-2012 as well as of the Little Ice Age are used to conduct Emerging Hot Spot Analysis. Data on glacier outlines from 1985, 2003 and 2013 for the Hohe Tauern National Park (East Tyrol) has been kindly provided by B. Robson & D. Hölbling (Robson et al., 2016). Further, the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) dataset is cross-checked and of which glacier outlines on the border of Austria and Italy were used. Zones of archaeological significance are predicted using a so-called connectivity surface. The surface represents a calculation of the associated increases in the cost of travel in relation to the best routes through the Alps via calories burnt. Adjustments for carrying up to 25kg in extra weight are also included. Areas that are easier to cross are assumed to have been used more frequently and would thus be more likely to hold cultural remains.
Frozen Pasts - 4th International Glacial Archaeology Symposium, Innsbruck 2016
Papers by Stephanie E. Metz
CAA International Conference 2016 Oslo - Session 02: Using GIS modeling to solve real-world archaeological problems
This paper aims to shed light on the Münchshöfener Culture's settlement structures by using the most updated database since L. Süß 1976.
The results presented are to be seen as work in progress as upcoming analyses still need to be performed. Future work will include i. a.: Visibility maps should help to evaluate the relation between burials and settlement features. Accessibility maps regarding least-cost path analyses including natural resources such as flint stones and copper should deliver information about economic processes. Stratified pollen data can also be taken into account for estimating the past vegetation composition respectively the past cultural landscape. Diachronic approach including the Altheimer Culture.
EAA Glasgow 2015 – AR16: GIS and Spatial Analysis
This paper will present older finds like the remains of the "poacher" Norbert Mattersberger from East Tyrol, who went missing 1839 at the "Gradetzkees" and showed up again in 1929, as well as the JU52, a cargo plane, which had to make an emergency landing at the Umbalkees in East Tyrol in the 1940ties. In scope of this paper we also will present the newest discoveries, which were found in the course of the glacier-archaeological prospections of the GAAA-Project.
Due to the urgency to locate potential archaeological sites to avoid the loss of culturally significant remains, the GAAA project seeks to determine areas of high interest using GIS. Furthermore, this paper also presents the methodological framework that has been developed by the project thus far, as well as implications for its further employment.
Frozen Pasts - 4th International Glacial Archaeology Symposium, Innsbruck 2016
This poster presents the methodological framework developed by the project thus far, as well as its preliminary results. Implications for further work within the parameters of the project are also introduced. Currently glacierized or recently deglacierized high altitude mountain passes located in our study area are selected to perform locational analyses based on the physical characteristics of the terrain. Glacier extents from the Austrian Glacier Inventory 1969, 1998 and 2004-2012 as well as of the Little Ice Age are used to conduct Emerging Hot Spot Analysis. Data on glacier outlines from 1985, 2003 and 2013 for the Hohe Tauern National Park (East Tyrol) has been kindly provided by B. Robson & D. Hölbling (Robson et al., 2016). Further, the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) dataset is cross-checked and of which glacier outlines on the border of Austria and Italy were used. Zones of archaeological significance are predicted using a so-called connectivity surface. The surface represents a calculation of the associated increases in the cost of travel in relation to the best routes through the Alps via calories burnt. Adjustments for carrying up to 25kg in extra weight are also included. Areas that are easier to cross are assumed to have been used more frequently and would thus be more likely to hold cultural remains.
Frozen Pasts - 4th International Glacial Archaeology Symposium, Innsbruck 2016