Cult Continuity at the Summit of Hemmaberg

Hemmaberg in southern Carinthia is renowned for its Late Antique remains, in particular its pilgrim centre with two major double church complexes from the beginning of the 6th century AD, as it represents an important document of life in the Alpine region during the Migration Period. Besides its importance for Late Antiquity, the archaeology at Hemmaberg is in fact far more extensive. Excavations in the years 2009 to 2013 demonstrated that the hilltop had originally been part of an early sanctuary. This is probably the reason why the Late Antique double church complexes are located at the slope and not at the hilltop plateau. More surprisingly, the foundations of another church that was discovered in this central area has been dated to the second half of the 6th century AD. For the first time in the research at Hemmaberg, these excavations showed a coherent and uninterrupted stratigraphy that spans from the Bronze Age to the 17th century AD. Due to the fact that these extensive excavations had already been completed, the project will focus on investigating the notions of transformation and acculturation at Hemmaberg by the evaluation of the archaeological results and finds. The unique conditions of preservation at the site will give an exceptional opportunity to work with an abundance of materials from a single settlement from prehistoric to medieval times. The core issues will then concern the questions of continuity and transition in the area of the hilltop sanctuary over an extended period of time. It will be possible to answer questions like: Did cult practice change from prehistoric to Roman times? Was Hemmaberg a nucleus of Romanization as it can be assumed for Magdalensberg? How long did the Roman sanctuary last and in which way was the area used before people in the sphere of Frankish culture built a proprietary church? The projects approach to these questions is based on the analyses of a full spectrum of finds. They will enable us to distinguish the phases of utilisation of the hilltop plateau more precisely and to clarify the changes in cult practice. The research in the architectural remains, including the evaluation of geophysical measurements will allow us to complete the plans of the former excavations. Comparative studies in the architectural remains as well as in the finds will increase our understanding of the processes of transformation especially in times of immigration and acculturation during the Romanisation and the Migration Period. This project will thus become a model study in this topic, which will lead to further research at comparable sites and new evaluations of the existing scientific results from older excavations.

No additional funding sources recorded.