Stone.Age.Museum Stift Rein
The oldest mining in Styria
Not far from Rein Abbey, on the so-called Hochfeld, a sensational discovery has been made in recent years: Archaeological excavations, modern prospecting methods and geoscientific analyses by the Universalmuseum Joanneum (Graz) and the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna) brought the oldest mining in Styria to light.
The traces of this early mining are over 6,000 years old and date back to the late Neolithic period. Flint was mined – an extremely hard, easily cleavable silicate rock that was of inestimable value to the people of that time. It was used to manufacture sharp-edged weapons and tools – i.e. essential everyday objects.
From Neanderthal to the Neolithic Age
The use of flint in Styria dates back a long way: Neanderthals were already making tools from this material over 50,000 years ago. The oldest evidence of this comes from the Repolust Cave near Peggau – the site of the oldest man-made artifacts in Styria.
While in the Paleolithic Age flints were still collected superficially, the people of the Neolithic Age began to dig specifically for this “strategic raw material”. In the gently rising terrain between the present-day villages of Rein and Hörgas – the so-called Hochfeld – probably several hundred mining pits (Pingen) were created.
The platy flint found here was an important raw material for hewn stone tools in the southeastern Alpine region and has been found in numerous Neolithic settlements in Styria and Carinthia.
Techniques of early mining
Using tools made of antlers, bones or wood, the miners of the time created pits up to five meters deep in the yellow-gray loamy soil of the Hochfeld. There they came across several layers of whitish platy flint – averaging one to two centimeters thick.
During an archaeological investigation in 2016, a completely preserved mining pit from the Neolithic period was uncovered for the first time. The approximately 3.5 meter deep shaft with a diameter of around two meters showed a lateral bulge at its base, via which the flint was specifically extracted.
Large quantities of waste material were found in the refilled pit – flint slabs, flakes and core stones that did not meet the high demands of the flint knappers and were therefore disposed of on site.
1500 years of mining tradition
Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from several mining pits shows that flint mining in Rein was carried out between 4500 and 3000 BC – a tradition that spanned around 1500 years. This period coincides almost entirely with the entire Neolithic settlement history of Styria.
With the discovery of the Rein mining pits, it was possible to prove that this is the second known Neolithic silex mine in Austria. A comparable site is only located in Vienna-Liesing (Antonshöhe), where radiolarite, a variety of flint, was extracted at the same time.
Since the Viennese site was already investigated in 1929/30, the findings in Rein are now considered the only completely and modernly documented Neolithic mining pit for flint in Austria.
Archaeological heritage of national importance
Due to its exceptional importance, the suspected mining area was placed under monument protection by the Federal Monuments Office in 2019. In addition, the site was included in the top 100 list of the most important archaeological monuments in Austria.
From the find to the exhibition
As early as 2018, the Archaeological Museum of the Universalmuseum Joanneum dedicated a special exhibition to the flint mining of Rein.
In the new Stone.Age.Museum Stift Rein, the Rein flint can now be shown at its place of origin. The finds from Rein offer a fascinating insight into the life and technology of the early miners of Styria. They show how innovative and organized the people of the Neolithic Age already were – and how an inconspicuous stone like flint became the basis for tools, progress and survival.
The permanent exhibition was designed by Dr. Michael Brandl from the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Mag. Daniel Modl from the Archaeology & Coin Cabinet Department at the Universalmuseum Joanneum.
Opening hours
April 1 to January 6, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays free admission from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., guided tours are possible between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Groups of 15 or more all year round by appointment at gruppe@stift-rein.at
Guided tour: €4,–, free for children up to the age of
15.
Information: +43 3124 51621
We thank our sponsors from industry and business and our private donors!
