AGATE

From 2012 to 2025, the project explores the beginning and end of the Roman era in the central Alpine region. Through excavation projects in Pfaffenhofen (North Tyrol) and San Martino/San Silvestro (Trentino), the project opens up new archaeological source material from two important transitional periods. In Pfaffenhofen-Hörtenberg, the largest Iron Age settlement in North Tyrol is being investigated, the end of which may have been connected with the Roman conquest in 15 BC. In Trentino, the focus is on the early medieval fortified hilltop settlement on Mount San Martino (5th to 8th/9th century) and its surroundings.

Based on the two excavations, regional studies will be carried out to put the sites into a broader context. Interdisciplinary cooperation with the natural sciences is important (botany, zoology, anthropology, various analyses of finds, etc.). In addition, two international conferences in 2017 and 2018 will serve as an interim assessment of the project. We are looking for continuity strands and discontinuities in all areas of life of the ancient people: Population, social structure, settlement, regional development planning, economy, craftsmanship, religious expression, and burial customs. The results will be published in the series “Münchner Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte”.

Das Projekt widmet sich den Übergängen von der vorrömischen Eisenzeit in die frühe römische Kaiserzeit und von der Spätantike ins frühe Mittelalter (Schwerpunkt Frühzeit/Schwerpunkt Spätzeit). Von 2012 bis 2025 sind Grabungsprojekte die Basis des Vorhabens (Frühzeit: Pfaffenhofen, Nordtirol und Spätzeit: San Martino/San Silvestro, Trentino). Darauf aufbauend werden Regionalstudien erstellt, die die Plätze in einen größeren Zusammenhang setzen.