Earth:Iron-Age-Danube project

View from the Königsberg in Southern Styria.The Königsberg is one of the archaeological sites in the Styrian micro-region Großklein.

“Monumentalized Early Iron Age Landscapes in the Danube river basin”

Iron-Age-Danube is a cross-border project and is part of the Interreg Danube Transnational Programme of the European Union.

In the Iron-Age-Danube project the early Iron Age landscapes in the Danube river basin are explored with the help of modern technology and traditional archaeological tools. The participating partners from Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia work together to promote the concept of archaeological landscapes beyond single archaeological sites in these countries.

The project is funded by the European Union with about 2.169.200 EUR from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). These ERDF resources make 85% of the total project volume which is about 2.552.000 EUR.

The Iron-Age-Danube project lasts from the 1st of January 2017 till the 30th of June 2019.

Goals of the project

The major goal of the project is to communicate a lively image of archaeological research and the Iron Age landscapes to the visitors and to raise the awareness for the importance of archaeological monuments for the human history.

The project Iron-Age-Danube ignores borderlines between the countries and researches the remains of the Hallstatt period (Iron Age) in the Danube region. The data of this research will help to understand the way of living in the past and the needs of the heritage today.

Another goal is the protection of the monuments and landscapes as well as their sustainable use for the tourism. To strengthen the local tourism, already existing archaeological parks or trails will be revitalised. New visitor programs in form of digital and analogous tools will be developed and implemented in 9 micro-regions. The micro-regions are: Großklein and Strettweg (Austria), Jalžabet and Kaptol (Croatia), Poštela and Dolenjske Toplice (Slovenia) and Százhalombatta, Süttő and Sopron (Hungary).

Project partners

The project partners and associated partners in Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia are:

• LP (AT) Universalmuseum Joanneum (UMJ)
• PP 1 (AT) University of Graz, Institute of Archaeology (Uni Graz)
• PP 2 (AT) University of Vienna, Institute of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (UNIVIE)
• PP 3 (SI) University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology (Uni Ljubljana)
• PP 4 (SI) Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Centre for Preventive Archaeology (IPCHS)
• PP 5 (SI) University of Maribor, Faculty for Agriculture and Life Sciences (Uni Maribor)
• PP 6 (CRO) Institute of Archaeology (IARH)
• PP 7 (CRO) Archaeological Museum in Zagreb (AMZ)
• PP 8 (HU) Matrica Museum and Archaeological Park (MM) (only 2017)
• PP 9 (HU) Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Archaeological Sciences (ELTEFHIAS)
• PP 10 (HU) Archaeolingua Foundation (ARCHAEOLINGUA)
• PP 11 (HU) Hungarian National Museum (HNM)
• ASP 1 (AT) Federal Monuments Agency (BDA)
• ASP 2 (SI) Regional museum Maribor (PoMuM)
• ASP 3 (SI) Dolenjski museum Novo mesto (DM Novo mesto)
• ASP 4 (SI) Slovenian Tourist Board (STO)
• ASP 5 (CRO) Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (MinCultCro)
• ASP 6 (CRO) Centre for Prehistoric Research (CPR)
• ASP 7 (CRO) Varaždin County Tourist Board (VCTB)
• ASP 9 (SK) Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (UKF)

The project in 2018

On the 31st of January 2018 the European Year of Cultural Heritage was officially launched by the European Commission and the Iron-Age-Danube project was granted the honor to use the EYCH 2018 logo.

In June 2018 the Iron-Age-Danube Project was selected by an Independent Jury as one of 21 finalists for the RegioStars Awards in the 2018 edition. The voting for this year’s public choice award started on the 3rd of July 2018.

At the beginning of July the project partners in Vienna became a part of the road trip project and took the two young travellers with them to do some aerial archaeology.

External links

1. Universalmuseum Joanneum Archaeology
2. Universalmuseum Joanneum Archaeology Iron-Age-Danube
3. Interreg Danube Transnational Program
4. Interreg Danube Transnational Program Iron-Age-Danube
5. European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018
6. RegioStars Awards : The independent jury has selected 21 finalists in the 2018 edition