Archaeology & Dürrnberg Research Department

Head of department Scientific director archaeology & Dürrnberg Research Department

Dr. Holger Wendling M.A.

As scientific director of the Dürrnberg Research Department at the Keltenmuseum Hallein, Holger Wendling is investigating settlement structures and burials at the Iron Age hill top site of Dürrnberg in Austria. Furthermore, he conducts archaeological research on various aspects of Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages at Salzburg and the broader alpine region.

During his studies at the University of Tübingen and at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, he developed a strong interest in the archaeology and history of the Iron Age of temperate Europe. His doctoral thesis dealt with the late La Tène site at Breisach „Münsterberg“ (D), and with the settlement archaeology of the upper Rhine region. While pursuing these studies, he conducted excavations funded by the German Research Association at the LT C/D unfortified settlement „Tarodunum“ at Kirchzarten near Freiburg (D). His research interests include social interpretations in settlement and landscape archaeology, archaeological research on ancient religious thought, methodological aspects of current archaeology, and the prospects of geophysical survey. These studies integrate cultural anthropological and ethnoarchaeological approaches to ancient cultures. As a research fellow at the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute, he analysed data and excavated at the Celtic oppidum at Manching (D), for example at the famous wall and in the centre of the late Celtic town. Furthermore, he carried out large-scale geomagnetic survey in Germany, Serbia, and Kosovo. As a lecturer at the Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and Roman-Provincial Archaeology of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, he communicates knowledge of European prehistory to students.

Scientific assistant at the Dürrnberg Research Department

Margarethe Kirchmayr, M.A.

Margarethe Kirchmayr is scientific assistant at the Dürrnberg Research Department at the Keltenmuseum Hallein. Her tasks include the evaluation of the Gratzenfeld cemetery on the Dürrnberg.
She studied "Prehistory and Early History as well as Medieval and Modern Archaeology" and "Archaeologies" at the University of Innsbruck with a focus on Prehistory and Roman Provincial Archaeology. She completed her master's thesis on the crafts area of a prehistoric settlement near Locherboden in Mieming (Tyrol) in 2015. During her studies she also participated in numerous excavations, surveys and geophysical prospections in Austria, Italy, Portugal and Romania.

In her current dissertation, which is funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences with a DOC-scholarship, she deals with prehistory in the district of Reutte in Tyrol, which has so far been almost unexplored. Similar to the Dürrnberg, this region is located in the transition area between the inner Alpine region and the foothills of the Alps. Thus, one of the main issues of the dissertation covers cultural contacts and borders. Other research interests include transport routes, experimental archaeology and archaeometry.