Archaeology on the Mountain June 14–15, 2025
Metal Art in the Iron Age
Gleaming, Clinking, and Ringing Metals
Sat, June 14 and Sun, June 15, 2025, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM at the Hallstatt Salt Mountain
Join us for a journey into the metal artistry of the Early Iron Age. Try your hand at salt boiling, coin minting, and metal forging! Insights into prehistoric cuisine — including tastings — complete this rich and varied program. Admission is free.
Metal Art in the Iron Age
Metal Art in the Iron Age
Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15, 2025
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the “Old Forge” on the Hallstatt Salt Mountain
Not only gold and silver shine — see for yourself during our special event weekend on June 14 and 15, 2025, in the Hallstatt Salt Valley. Numerous metal artifacts from the Iron Age cemetery and the salt mine will be on display. We will demonstrate how these objects were made and explain what they reveal to the experts of the Natural History Museum Vienna and its partner institutions about life, work, and death in Hallstatt more than 2,500 years ago.
Metallfundstücke aus dem Hallstätter Gräberfeld
Program
- Current archaeological research on mining and cemeteries conducted by the NHM Vienna on and within the Salt Mountain
- Presentation of laboratory analysis methods for metal finds, uncovering new insights into their history
- Presentation of material studies by the Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS), University of Vienna: Where did the raw materials come from, and how did they reach Hallstatt?
- From discovery to exhibition: Metals in restoration and conservation, plus insights into music and textile archaeology from the NHM Vienna’s Prehistoric Department
- Presentation of the new web app SALZZEIT.at – the virtual museum of the Salzkammergut: Try it out!
- Learn about the UNESCO World Heritage Sites Hallstatt–Dachstein/Salzkammergut and the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps
- Presentation of the three-part silver coin series “Prehistoric Hallstatt” by the Austrian Mint – including hands-on coin minting
- Spectacular footage showing conservation work underground at the World Heritage Site, supported by the Republic of Austria and the Province of Upper Austria
- Presentation of the first results from archaeological monitoring during the renovation of the Hallstatt Salt Mine Railway, in cooperation with Salinen Austria AG and Salzwelten GmbH
Learn how salt gave rise to one of Europe’s most significant cultural landscapes, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The World Heritage mediators of the Hallstatt–Dachstein/Salzkammergut region will present this rich (architectural) heritage and show how salt continues to shape the landscape today.
Further information available directly from the Natural History Museum Vienna
HDS Bernd PaulowitzDas Prunkschwert aus Grab 573
