Nina Richards (nee Brundke)

This article aims at investigating recent archaeological research on the Early Middle Ages. We analysed excavations, research projects and publications over a timespan of ten years and recorded their chronological focus and spatial distribution. Early Medieval excavations are rare. However many publications and research projects dealing with this period are written and/or carried out. From a spatial point of view, most regions in Austria are represented equally – one exception is  Vorarlberg.
For future research more excavations on Early Medieval sites would be desirable.
Obviously this period is very interesting for the scholarly community, as the projects and publications show. More state of the art excavations would lead to more sources and be the foundation for further discussion.

An Arpadian age (10th–11th c.) burial ground was unearthed on the plateau of Oberleiserberg along with features and findings from several other periods. It was first discovered during the excavation led by Herbert Mitscha-Märheim and Ernst Nischer-Falkenhof in the 1920s and 30s. In the 1970s and 80s the site was archaeologically investigated by Herwig Friesinger and his team. During these archaeological campaigns 71 additional graves were found. The multidisciplinary analyses
of the medieval findings and features as well as the human remains unearthed on Oberleiserberg are part of the international project Frontier, Contact Zone or No Man’s Land — The MoravaThaya Region from the Early to the High Medieval Ages (I 1911 G21, led by Stefan Eichert and
Jiří Macháček funded by FWF (Austrian Science Fund) and GAČR (Czech Science Foundation).
The early and high medieval findings indicate contact of the entombed population with nonnative peoples, possibly reaching as far as the Baltic Sea. Anthropological analysis of the excavated skeletons shows us more about the everyday life of the people buried here and together with
isotopic analysis of the human remains, conclusions about their living conditions are possible. K e y w o r d s: Early Middle Ages; middle Danube area; Lower Austria; Frontier organization;
burial grounds; isotopic analysis
Received: 17.08.2017; Revised: 24.08.2017; Revised: 20.09.2017; Accepted: 17.11.2017

Cross-border cooperation is very important for understanding the cultural-historical development of the border regions of modern day states. These areas, today, are often considered as “peripheries”.
However, in the past they usually had a very different function and status. This article introduces one bilateral mobility project between the archaeological departments at the University of Vienna and the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, aimed at facilitating more focused early medieval archaeological research in the region along the lower stretches of the Morava River. The article introduces the region, its history and state of research and describes the role of the project, the team and the project results obtained up to date.

Bei dem hier vorgestellten Forschungsprojekt handelt es sich um eine österreichisch-tschechische Kooperation, die vom Österreichischen Wissenschaftsfond (FWF) und der Grantová agentura České republiky (GAČR) gefördert wird. Es wird von Mag. Dr. Stefan Eichert (Institut für Urgeschichte und Historische Archäologie, Universität Wien) und Prof. Mgr. Jiří Macháček, Ph.D (Masaryk Universität Brünn, Abteilung für Archäologie und Museologie) geleitet. Ziel ist die Erforschung der Grenzregion zwischen den beiden Ländern am Zusammenfluss von March und Thaya im frühen und hohen Mittelalter. Dafür werden verschiedene Fundplätze in Niederösterreich und Mähren archäologisch und interdisziplinär in Einzelstudien untersucht. Das Projekt startete im Januar 2015 und wird bis Dezember 2018 fortgeführt. Für Informationen über die Einzelstudien, scannen Sie bitte den QR-Code neben den Abbildungen mit Ihrem Smartphone.