United by crisis? A transdisciplinary look at the early Neolithic communities in the Schletz settlement cluster

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Together with Citizen Scientists we do systematic “line walking” for the identification of Neolithic sites in the region (Photo: J. Maurer)

Motivation and scope of the project
The project “United by crisis?” (UBC) aims to explore the surroundings of the famous Neolithic settlement of Asparn/Schletz (Lower Austria). Numerous human remains suggest a violent attack on this site in the Late Linear Pottery Culture (LPC), approx. 7.000 years ago. 
Due to its size and earthworks, we assume that Schletz was the central site of a cluster of smaller settlements in surrounding region. By researching these settlements, we hope, among other things, to increase our knowledge on the background of the massacre and on the origin of the people who died in Schletz. Visit our website www.united-by-crisis.at for further information & news on the project!

We cordially invite you to work with us as a Citizen Scientist!
In the project, we are searching for Neolithic finds (pottery, stone tools, etc.) at known or suspected sites near Asparn/Schletz together with interested people and collectors. During our surveys, we go over the fields at regular intervals and map the finds that we discover. Later on, we clean them together und create a scientific documentation and evaluation. Here you can find further information on how you can participate as a Citizen Scientist.

In another part of the project, local middle school students extract and process soil samples from the area of the LPC sites to create an isoscape (= isotope landscape). Through a comparison with Sr isotope ratios of the human remains, this will allow a discussion of whether the people that died in the massacre might have grown up locally or not. 

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The LPC-site Zwentendorf-Hofwiese (Photo: J. Längauer) is known through stray finds from the 1980s (Photo: State Collections of Lower Austria, UF-229889.699)

Aims of the project

• Localization, dating and classification of early Neolithic sites in the vicinity of the LPC central site of Asparn/Schletz
• Determination of the bioavailable Sr isotope signals of the central site and the surrounding area
• Determination of the possible provenance and proportion of non-local individuals in the Schletz find ensemble
• Gaining knowledge on the social organization and development of the early Neolithic settlement cluster of Asparn/Schletz and its society
• Assessment of working hypotheses on the context of the Asparn/Schletz massacre, also as a case study for theoretical models on the development of societies and the supposed “crisis-situation” in the late LPC discussed by researchers
• Enhancing students' motivation and confidence in Science & STEM
• Promoting public interest in archaeology & knowledge sharing through active participation of members of the general public & collectors

Methods used in the project

• Systematic archaeological surveys (“line walking”)
• GIS modelling, research in literature, archaeological archives & find depots
• Statistical evaluation and dating of finds (typochronology, 14C, etc.)
• Determination of Sr-isotope ratios of human remains and soil samples (mass spectrometry - MC-ICP-MS)
• Bioanthropological studies on human remains

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A tooth sample from excavated human remains of Schletz (Photo: M. Schober) and the mass spectrometer Sapphire from Nu Instruments Ltd located at the Montanuniversität Leoben that is used for the analysis (Photo: J. Irrgeher)

Project Members

• University for Continuing Education Krems, Center for Museum Collections Management (Lead)
• Montanuniversität Leoben, Chair of General and Analytical Chemistry
• University of Natural Ressources and Life Sciences Vienna, Institute of Soil Research, Campus Tulln
• Natural History Museum Vienna
• State Collections of Lower Austria

Cooperation partners

• MAMUZ
• School Center Asparn
• Österreich forscht
• University of Vienna, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology 

Funded by