Small finds processing and material culture studies
In the field of small finds processing, both classical determinations of Roman finds material and further investigations within the framework of Material Culture Studies are carried out.
Atrium house
Both the type of building and the rich finds from the atrium house suggest that it was used by wealthy, socially higher-ranking people. The inhabitants supplied themselves with food and tableware from the entire Mediterranean region. Tableware was imported from Gaul, Germania, Italy, Asia Minor and North Africa. Oysters, wine from Italy, Gaul and the Aegean and olive oils imported mainly from Istria illustrate the inhabitants' connection to the Mediterranean world. The period of use of the atrium house extends from the 1st to the 5th century AD, with the east wing of the building in particular containing a wealth of information on the late antique use of the building complex. Even at this time, it can be assumed that the inhabitants were still financially strong, which is reflected in their eating habits, for example. The finds were processed and analysed between 2008 and 2013 as part of a research project (P20846-G02) funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
Literature
M. Auer, Late Roman local production in southwestern Noricum. Municipium Claudium Aguntum - a case study, Acta RCRF, 42, 2012, 419-422.
M. Auer, Municipium Claudium Aguntum. Ceramics as an indicator of the late antique social structure?, REI CRETARIAE ROMANAE FAVTORVM, ACTA 44, 2016, 453-458.
M. Auer, Municipium Claudium Aguntum. Kitchen Residues from the Atrium House, in: G. Nutu, S.-C- Ailincai, C. Micu (eds.), The man, the river and the sea. Studies in Archaeology and History in honour of Florin Topoleanu on his 65th anniversary (Cluj-Napoca 2017), 327-340.
S. Deschler-Erb / M. Auer, In cibo veritas - Zur wechselhaften Geschichte des Atriumhauses von Aguntum/Tirol (1.-4. Jh. A.D.) im Spiegel der Ernährungssitten, Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien, Serie A, Band 120, 2018, 5-17.
M. Auer, The Municipium Claudium Aguntum and the Eastern Mediterranean. Neues zur materiellen Kultur der römischen Stadt, in: S. Hye / U. Töchterle (eds.), UPIKU:TAUKE. Festschrift für Gerhard Tomedi zum 65. Geburtstag, Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archaeological Studies 339 (Bonn 2019) 43-50.
Herkunft und Funktion der Keramik aus dem Atriumhaus
Aguntum archives
Due to the long excavation history, the archaeological depot in the Aguntum excavation house is richly filled. However, only a small part of the pre-1991 inventory has been preserved, making it necessary to re-inventory all the material in the Aguntum depot and thus convert it into a scientifically usable finds archive. This work, supported by the University of Innsbruck and the Department of Culture of the Province of Tyrol, began in 2013 and, with the help of the students, a large part of the finds material recovered between 1950 and 1980 was documented photographically and inventoried in a digital archive in two campaigns.
The work on the finds archive was completed in 2025, meaning that it can now serve as the basis for the scientific analysis of the old excavations. For example, the question of whether there could have been a river port in the south of the city (see below) was addressed on the basis of the re-inventory of the find material from the 1950s.
Literature
M. Auer, A river port in Aguntum?, M. Auer (ed.), Roman Settlements along the Drava River, Ager Aguntinus. Historical-archaeological research 3 (Wiesbaden 2019) 1-9.
Arbeitsablauf bei der Inventarisierung der Altfunde
Roman pottery in Noricum
Scientific analysis
As part of the FWF-funded project "The Atrium House of Aguntum" (P20846-G02), work began on characterising the regional ceramic products found at Aguntum. The MGR method was used in conjunction with chemical and thin-section analyses. The project partners Dr Gerwulf Schneider (FU Berlin) and Dr Malgorszata Daszkiewicz (FU Berlin / ARCHEA Warsaw) succeeded in establishing local ceramic production using metallurgical clay as a reference material. However, the analyses have also shown that within the supposedly local group of materials commonly referred to in research as "Noric pottery", a wide variety of regional imported materials were present.
In recent years, it has been possible to significantly expand the analysis data and also include the late antique settlement in Lavant. The use of different raw materials in Aguntum and Lavant could be established, whereby the respective products were also traded between the settlements.
Literature
Auer / M. Daszkiewicz, Archaeological expectations and archaeometric results. Some considerations on imported coarse wares and local pottery production in Aguntum, Austria, in G. Lipovac Vrkljan / B. Šiljeg / I. Ožanić Roguljić / A. Konestra [eds.], Rimske keramikčarske i staklarske radionice, Proizvodnja i trgovina na jadranskom prostoru (Crikvenica 2017) 97-125.
B. Borgers / C. Ionescu / Á. Gal / F. Neubauer / Ch. Von Hagke / M. Auer / V. Szilagyi / Z. Kasztovszky / K. Gméling / I. Harsanyi/ L. Barbu-Tudoran, Production technology and knowledge transfer of calcite-tempered grey ware bowls from 2nd- to 5th-century CE Noricum (Austria), Archaeometry 65/3, 2023, 480 - 497.
Morphological and stylistic analysis
The group of grey-toned, reduction-fired or not completely oxidation-fired pottery from Aguntum was compared with technologically comparable vessels from other Norse and Upper Italian sites. A morphological comparison based purely on rim shapes yields hardly any meaningful results across sites, which is why great importance was attached to decoration in the search for comparative pieces. Technology, morphology and style (based on the decoration) finally made it possible to define 18 ceramic types with further variants based on Aguntum. These have a clearly definable area of distribution, although the extent of each varies considerably.
Literature
M. Auer, Municipium Claudium Aguntum. Ceramic regions as areas of interaction. A West-Norse perspective, Ager Aguntinus 2 (Wiesbaden 2019).
Verbreitungskarte des Typs X
Ceramic circulation: transfer of goods or ideas?
In connection with the different distribution areas of pottery produced in Noricum , the question arises as to how these pottery regions were formed and how pottery production was organised in Noricum . Further scientific analyses, including finds from Salzburg, Moosham, St. Peter in Holz, the Zollfeld near Klagenfurt and the Magdalensberg, were used to clarify this question. It has been shown that the production of quartz-gemmed tripod bowls took place at all the sites mentioned, although there is also evidence of an exchange of goods between the settlements.
Literature
M. Auer, Zur Organisation des Töpferhandwerks in Noricum - Familienunternehmen oder Großbetrieb?, Ethnographisch-Archäologische Zeitschrift [EAZ] 55, 1/2, 2014 [2016], 121-158.
M. Auer, Pottery Regions in Noricum. Evidence for Communities of Practice?, RCRF Acta, 2018, 467-476.
B. Borgers / M. Auer / S. Wagner / P. Tropper Production and Distribution of Greyware Tripod Bowls in 1st and 2nd Centuries AD Noricum (Austria), OAJAA.
B. Borgers / M. Auer, Communities of practice in 2nd to 5th century AD pottery production: A case study from south-western Noricum, Austria, Journal of Roman Pottery Studies 20, 2023, 77 - 91.
Content analyses
The question of eating habits in the municipium is being investigated on the one hand by analysing animal bones in cooperation with Dr Sabine Deschler-Erb (IPNA Basel) and, on the other hand, content analyses of various vessels (lavez and pottery) from Aguntum have recently been carried out in cooperation with Dr Lucy Cramp (University of Bristol). In particular, the analysis of the so-called Aguntum bowls has recently yielded exciting results that suggest that this vessel form was used for the production / sale of dairy products.
Literature
M. Auer, Überlegungen zur Keramikproduktion im Territorium von Aguntum, in: C. Reinholdt / W. Wohlmayr (eds.), Akten des 13. Österreichischen Archäologentages in Salzburg (Vienna 2012) 311-316.
L. J. E. Cramp / H. L. Whelton, Organic residue analysis of pottery residues from Aguntum, in: M. Auer, Municipium Claudium Aguntum - das macellum, Ager Aguntinus. Historical-archaeological research 6 (Wiesbaden 2025) 81-84.
Rusty iron
In a cooperation project between the restoration workshop of the Department of Archaeology, the Department of Mineralogy and Petrography (University of Innsbruck) and the Medical University of Innsbruck, freshly recovered iron finds from Aguntum were analysed under the project title "Rusty Iron". The aim of the project is to avoid conservation problems with iron finds as early as possible and to test the "ideal method" for recovering and packaging fresh finds from a conservation point of view.
Literature
Eisenfunde aus Aguntum
The Roman lamp production of EVCARPVS
Based on a study of the firing lamps found in the Municipium Claudium Aguntum, a research project on the lamp manufacturer EVCARPVS was carried out with the support of the TWF (Tyrolean Science Fund). Firmalamps with this manufacturer's name were analysed stylistically and scientifically, allowing insights into the functioning of ceramic production "on a large scale". The standardised firing lamps clearly show that there was a market-oriented structure of branch workshops, which flourished particularly in the first two centuries AD. Chr.
Literature
M. Auer, Die römischen Firmalampen aus dem Municipium Claudium Aguntum, in: L. Chrzanovski (ed.), Le Luminaire antique. Lychnological Acts 3. Actes du 3e Congrès International d'études de l'ILA. Université d'Heidelberg 21-26.IX.2009, Monographies Instrumentum 44 (Montagnac 2012), 11-23.
M. Auer / S. Sitz, Die Firmalampenproduktion des Eucarpus - eine Studie zur römischen Keramikproduktion, Germania 92, 2014 (2015), 85-12).
Firmalampen aus Aguntum