Hallstatt (redirected from Halstat)

Hallstatt (häl`shtät), village, Upper Austria prov., W central Austria, in the Salzkammergut, on the Lake of Hallstatt. A tourist center, it is one of the oldest settlements in Austria. The term Hallstatt now refers to late Bronze and early Iron Age culture in central and western Europe. During excavations in the latter half of the 19th cent., more than 2,000 graves were discovered in an ancient cemetery near Hallstatt. Most of the graves dated to two time periods, an earlier (c.1100/1000 to c.800/700 B.C.) and a later (c.800/700 to 450 B.C.). Near the cemetery, preserved in a prehistoric salt mine, the bodies of miners have been discovered, as well as their implements and clothing.

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Hallstatt

Bronze bucket found at early Iron Age cemetery at Hallstatt, Austria, about 6th century BC.

(credit: Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum)

Site in upper Austria where objects characteristic of the Early Iron Age (from c. 1100 BC) were first identified. More than 2,000 graves were near a salt mine that preserved implements, parts of clothing, and bodies of miners. The remains are divided into four phases (A, B, C, D), differing according to burial practices, presence of low grave mound or tumulus, relative quantity of bronze and iron, and style of pottery, weapons, jewelry, and clothing. Decoration in general is geometric and symmetrical, with a tendency toward the extravagant.