Prehistory

Prehistoric research in Austria began slightly later than classical archaeology. The foundations of prehistoric inquiry were laid down by Moritz Hoernes around 1860, albeit not in an academic context. In 1870, the Anthropologische Gesellschaft in Wien (Anthropological Society of Vienna) was founded under the leadership of Ferdinand Freiherr von Andrian-Werburg, and the subjects of prehistory, ethnography, ethnolology, and physical anthropology all found a common home there. A prehistoric collection was displayed in the Anthropologisch-ethnographischen Abteilung (Department of Anthropology and Ethnography) of the Naturhistorischen Hofmuseum (Imperial Museum of Natural History), founded in 1889. In 1878, the Prähistorische Commission (Prehistoric Commission) of the Kaiser was founded by the Akademie der Wissenschaften (Imperial Academy of Sciences), under the chairmanship Ferdinand von Hochstetter.

In 1889, Hoernes described Eduard Freiherr von Sacken and Ferdinand von Hochstetter as the two prongs of prehistoric research in Austria, and the division between theoreticians (Sacken) and practitioners (Hochstetter), so typical of Austrian prehistory, was already apparent. Hoernes received the first lectureship in prehistoric archaeology at the University of Vienna in 1893; in 1899, he was appointed to an extraordinary position, albeit in geography; and in 1911, he was given an established chair. Thus, the prehistoric research institutions, which remain important to this day, were all established in Vienna in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Hoernes’s study of classical archaeology, his work in the Natural History Museum, and his association with the Anthropological Society laid the foundation for the three research interests that are prominent in his major publications: prehistory as an historical discipline (Die Urgeschichte des Menschen nach dem heutigen Stand der Wissenschaft [Prehistory of Mankind in the Light of Current Research], 1892); prehistoric archaeology in the sense of an art history of the remote past (Urgeschichte der bildenden Kunst in Europa [Prehistory of the Fine Arts in Europe], 1898); and prehistory as an anthropological discipline with links to physical anthropology and ethnology (Natur und Urgeschichte des Menschen [Nature and Prehistory of Mankind], 1909). Hoernes was, first and foremost, a compiler, but in his later years he was also a teacher.

Following Hoernes, Oswald Menghin thought of prehistoric archaeology as a branch of universal history. His close connection with the Viennese school of ethnology, which was deeply influenced by the culture area (Kulturkreis) theories of Father Wilhelm Schmidt, influenced Menghin’s view of history, which is made clear in his major work Die Welgeschichte der Steinzeit [World History of the Stone Age]. The geographical breadth of Menghin’s lectures attracted many foreign students as well, and this breadth, which extended well beyond the confines of Austria, is clearly reflected in the Wiener Prähistorische Gesellschaft (Viennese Prehistory Society, which emerged in 1914 from the Anthropological Society and returned to it after 1945) and its journal, Wiener Prähistorische Zeitschrift [Viennese Journal of Prehistory].

In 1945, after World War II, Richard Pittioni became the new professor at the University of Vienna. In his Urgeschichte des österreichischen Raumes [Prehistory of the Austrian Region], Pittioni elaborated a systematic view of Austrian prehistory, the roots of which were first published in 1937. This work was last revised in 1980. Methodological questions were of particular interest for both Menghin and Pittioni. In this regard, the position of prehistory within a family tree of the sciences was of particular interest, as was its relationship to related disciplines and to complementary natural sciences. In addition, Pittioni was responsible for a sophisticated terminology. On the other hand, his use of parallels between prehistoric find complexes and sociological entities seems too mechanical now, and his overall presentation of prehistory seems too schematic.

J. Ramsauer’s excavations in the cemetery at Hallstatt between 1846 and 1863 mark the beginning of scientific excavations in Austria, and Ferdinand von Hochstetter’s work was also significant. At the request of the Academy of Sciences, Hochstetter introduced lake-dwelling research