A Mining Subsidence Event around 920 BC in the Late Bronze Age Copper Mine of Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria)

Abstract

A Mining Subsidence Event around 920 BC in the Late Bronze Age Copper Mine of Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria)

With the help of core drilling, it was possible in 2017 to find evidence of an open-pit copper ore mine in the area of the Urnfield period mining settlement of Prigglitz-Gasteil at the edge of the Eastern Alps. The open pit extended for at least 48 m in a north-south direction and reached a depth of more than 32 m below the present ground surface. The copper ore mine, located at the foot of the Gahns mountain, was already partially filled with tailings when a massive subsidence event occurred and a mighty landslide buried the open pit. This event took place around 920 BC, as shown by the analysis of a series of radiocarbon dates measured on pit timbers and other organic remains. After the subsidence event, copper mining continued without apparent interruption, but the spatial structure of the mining settlement changed.