This study presents the results of a marine geophysical survey performed in the Igaliku fjord in southern Greenland in order to understand the harbour setting of the former Norse settlement Garðar (modern Igaliku). The aims of the survey were (a) to reconstruct the former coastline during the first centuries of the Norse settlement period (c. 11/12th centuries) and (b) to search for archaeological remains on the seabed connected to maritime traffic and trade. In order to approach these goals, we used an integrated marine survey system consisting of a side-scan sonar and a reflection seismic system. The system was designed for lightweight transport, allowing measurements in areas that are logistically difficult to access. The side-scan sonar data revealed no remains of clear archaeological origin. Bathymetric data from seismic seabed reflection and additional Differential GPS height measurements yielded a high-resolution bathymetric map. Based on estimates of Holocene relative sea level change, our bathymetry model was used to reconstruct the shift of the high and low-water line since the early Norse period. The reconstructed coastline shows that a small island, which hosts the ruins of a tentative Norse warehouse at the mouth of the present harbour, was connected to the shore at low tide during the early Norse period. In addition, reflection seismics and side-scan sonar images reveal a sheltered inlet with steep slopes on one side of the island, which may have functioned as a landing bridge used to load ships. We also show that the loss of fertile land due to sea level rise until the end of the Norse settlement was insignificant compared to the available fertile land in the Igaliku fjord and is thus not the reason for the collapse of the colony.

While airborne magnetometry has been used for geological surveys for decades, magnetic surveys for archaeological prospection are almost exclusively ground-based, as the detection of archaeological features requires higher spatial resolution and close proximity between sensor and object. However, the recent development of drones and magnetic sensors allows for low-altitude drone-based surveys, which are an interesting alternative for magnetic prospection of challenging areas, where vegetation, difficult terrain, access restrictions, or safety concerns hamper ground-based surveys. In this paper, we present test measurements in challenging areas in Germany and Switzerland, which demonstrate the potential as well as technical and practical concerns of drone-based magnetometry for archaeological prospection. We used a miniature total-field magnetometer, which was tethered to an octocopter drone. Although it is preferable to fly the sensor close to the ground where anomalies show the highest values, we could also detect magnetic anomalies in altitudes up to few metres above ground. Flights at different altitudes show the decay and widening of the anomalies with height. Drone-based magnetic measurements in rough and vegetated terrain require careful flight planning based on a high-resolution surface model. Further development is needed to improve positioning accuracy of the tethered magnetometer and to improve heading error correction.

Well into the eighteenth century, the European landscape featured gibbets and gallows as tokens of local judicial authority. Despite divergent geography and social structure, the location of gallows is remarkably consistent. The importance of visibility and positioning along major traffic routes and boundaries is well known and therefore rarely considered worthy of further analysis. Historians often uncritically reproduce the motives given by contemporary authorities for harsh punishments and the erection of gallows at the border of their jurisdiction. Written sources tend to mask the political, social and religious aims of executing and displaying criminals at peripheral, yet visible and accessible locations. Through a comparative study of gallows topography in the Netherlands, Lower Austria and Shetland, this paper seeks to disclose the highly diverse and paradox concepts that lie behind the seemingly uniform location of gallows throughout medieval and early modern Europe.

„Archaeologia Austriaca“ ist eine internationale, begutachtete archäologische Zeitschrift, die einmal jährlich im Druck und online (Open Access) erscheint. Sie wurde 1948 als Zeitschrift zur Paläanthropologie und Ur- und Frühgeschichte Österreichs als Nachfolgerin der „Wiener Prähistorischen Zeitschrift“ gegründet und deckt alle Zeitperioden vom Paläolithikum bis in die Neuzeit ab, die im Rahmen von archäologischen, anthropologischen und interdisziplinären Untersuchungen behandelt werden. Im Zuge der Neuausrichtung der Zeitschrift im Jahr 2013 wurde der ursprüngliche geographische und kulturelle Schwerpunkt wieder aufgegriffen und über Österreich hinausgehend ausgedehnt. Es werden Artikel, Forschungsberichte, Themenspecials sowie Buchrezensionen zur Archäologie Österreichs, Europas und verwandter Regionen veröffentlicht.

Inhalt:Eva LENNEIS: In memoriam Univ.-Prof. Dr. Pieter Jan Remees Moddermann; Karl VALOCH: Neue altpal