- Vienna, Wien, Austria
Paul Klostermann
Durham University, Archaeology, Alumnus
- Social and Cultural Anthropology, Older Prehistory, Anthropology, Archaeology, Ecology, History, and 51 moreExperimental Archaeology, Biology, Plant Biology, Paleolithic Europe, Paleolithic Archaeology, Orientalism, Drugs and drug culture, Prehistoric Archeology, Celtic Archeology, Historical archeology, Experimental archeology, Precolombian Archeology, Anthropology/Archeology, Forensic Archeology, African Archeology, Contemporary Archeology, Etrusque Archeology, Spatial archeology, Forensic Anthropology, Etruscan Sculpture, Etruscan Archaeology, Archaeothanatology, Palaeopathology, Osteoarthritis, Bone diagenesis and taphonomy, Biological Anthropology, Death and Burial (Archaeology), Forensic Archaeology, Osteology, Archaeology of Childhood, History Of Disease, Infant burial (Archaeology), Bioarchaeology, Anthropology of Children and Childhood, Paleopathology, Human Osteoarchaeology, Human Osteology, Thanatology - Death Studies, Archaeological GIS, Decomposition and Skeletal Disarticulation, Burial Archaeology, Anthropology of Death, Early Medieval Archaeology, Slavic Studies, Slavic Archaeology, Funerary Archaeology, Settlement Patterns, Archaeological Database, Digital Humanities, Archaeoparasitology, and Archaeology of the Avarsedit
In 2000, aerial archaeological documentation uncovered an extensive archaeological site with over 1000 features assumed to be graves near the village of Obereggendorf 30 km south of Vienna. Its dating, however, remained unclear. An... more
In 2000, aerial archaeological documentation uncovered an extensive archaeological site with over 1000 features assumed to be graves near the village of Obereggendorf
30 km south of Vienna. Its dating, however, remained unclear. An initial archaeological excavation to clarify the site’s date, preservation, and structure was carried out in
2021. Two small trenches measuring 41 m² and 69 m², respectively, were opened in the northern area. Seven intact graves, containing the poorly preserved skeletal remains of a young adult male, an adolescent probable female, and four subadult individuals buried in an extended supine position and oriented along an east-west axis were excavated. Grave goods associated with the individuals included an iron knife, two sets of earrings, three necklaces made from glass beads, and a bone needle case. These items dated the site to the Avar period with one grave more specifically dating to the late phase of Avar settlement in Eastern Austria. The bioarchaeological analysis revealed a low life expectancy and high child mortality, most likely due to infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies of which evidence was also found on the skeletal remains. Interdisciplinary archaeological research combined with modern excavation techniques applied to cemetery sites has the potential to vastly improve our knowledge about living conditions, burial customs, and the Avars’ beliefs of life after death. Situated within a dense network of Avar period sites in the Vienna basin, the Obereggendorf cemetery represents the largest Avar period cemetery documented in Eastern Austria to date. The data set from this first archaeological examination is small and therefore not representative of the entire site. However, this data set
not only provides the foundation for further steps, but also for the exploration of both the site’s research potential and protection.
30 km south of Vienna. Its dating, however, remained unclear. An initial archaeological excavation to clarify the site’s date, preservation, and structure was carried out in
2021. Two small trenches measuring 41 m² and 69 m², respectively, were opened in the northern area. Seven intact graves, containing the poorly preserved skeletal remains of a young adult male, an adolescent probable female, and four subadult individuals buried in an extended supine position and oriented along an east-west axis were excavated. Grave goods associated with the individuals included an iron knife, two sets of earrings, three necklaces made from glass beads, and a bone needle case. These items dated the site to the Avar period with one grave more specifically dating to the late phase of Avar settlement in Eastern Austria. The bioarchaeological analysis revealed a low life expectancy and high child mortality, most likely due to infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies of which evidence was also found on the skeletal remains. Interdisciplinary archaeological research combined with modern excavation techniques applied to cemetery sites has the potential to vastly improve our knowledge about living conditions, burial customs, and the Avars’ beliefs of life after death. Situated within a dense network of Avar period sites in the Vienna basin, the Obereggendorf cemetery represents the largest Avar period cemetery documented in Eastern Austria to date. The data set from this first archaeological examination is small and therefore not representative of the entire site. However, this data set
not only provides the foundation for further steps, but also for the exploration of both the site’s research potential and protection.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and... more
Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom?s northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region. Stories about the peopling?and people?of Southern Europe and West Asia have been passed down for thousands of years, and these stories have contributed to our historical understanding of populations. Genomic data provide the opportunity to truly understand these patterns independently from written history. In a trio of papers, Lazaridis et al. examined more than 700 ancient genomes from across this region, the Southern Arc, spanning 11,000 years, from the earliest farming cultures to post-Medieval times (see the Perspective by Arbuckle and Schwandt). On the basis of these results, the authors suggest that earlier reliance on modern phenotypes and ancient writings and artistic depictions provided an inaccurate picture of early Indo-Europeans, and they provide a revised history of the complex migrations and population integrations that shaped these cultures. ?SNV Polities of the ancient Mediterranean world preserved contrasts of ancestry since the Bronze Age but were linked by migration.
Research Interests:
We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and... more
We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.
Research Interests:
By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when... more
By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe.
Research Interests: Historical Archaeology, Population Genetics, Indo-European Studies, Science, Ancient DNA (Archaeology), and 10 moreMultidisciplinary, Ancient DNA (Anthropology), Ancient DNA, Archaeology of the Eurasian steppe belt, Yamnaya, Archaeology of the southern Levant in the Bronze Age, Steppe Pastoralism, Pastoralists/Nomads, Geogenetics, and Yamna Culture
Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and... more
Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom’s northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In February 2018 the Austrian Archaeological Institute/Austrian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Trogir Town Museum and the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb commenced excavations in the basement of a historic residential... more
In February 2018 the Austrian Archaeological Institute/Austrian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Trogir Town Museum and the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb commenced excavations in the basement of a historic residential building in the city centre of Trogir located on the central coast of Dalmatia. Probably dating to the 12th century , the house appears to be one of the oldest buildings that still remain in the historical city center which has been recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. The trench was laid out with the objective to clarify questions regarding chronology, function, history of use and urban planning of the ancient Tragurion/Tragurium that was founded by the Greek colony of Issa in the late 3rd century BC. Underneath a sequence of layers related to the modern occupation and the construction of the Venetian house parts a cemetery with at least seven graves including mostly well-preserved skeletal remains of seven non-adult individuals were uncovered. Two nicely preserved silver-plated bronze earrings from the 9th century AD found as grave goods in grave 4 indicate an Early Medieval date for the cemetery.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In February 2018 the Austrian Archaeological Institute/Austrian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Trogir Town Museum and the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb commenced excavations in the basement of a historic residential... more
In February 2018 the Austrian Archaeological Institute/Austrian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Trogir Town Museum and the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb commenced excavations in the basement of a historic residential building in the city centre of Trogir located on the central coast of Dalmatia. Probably dating to the 12th century , the house appears to be one of the oldest buildings that still remain in the historical city center which has been recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. The trench was laid out with the objective to clarify questions regarding chronology, function, history of use and urban planning of the ancient Tragurion/Tragurium that was founded by the Greek colony of Issa in the late 3rd century BC. Underneath a sequence of layers related to the modern occupation and the construction of the Venetian house parts a cemetery with at least seven graves including mostly well-preserved skeletal remains of seven non-adult individuals were uncovered. Two nicely preserved silver-plated bronze earrings from the 9th century AD found as grave goods in grave 4 indicate an Early Medieval date for the cemetery.