Ancient salt mine reveals 7,300 years of Austrian life
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Archaeologists in the mountains above Hallstatt, Austria, uncovered a network of Iron Age tunnels and chambers stretching nearly 300 meters.
The tunnels show evidence of salt mining that began approximately 7,300 years ago. People living near Hallstatt, a town in Austria, started extracting salt during the Neolithic period and steadily increased production. By 1200 BCE, miners were extracting 1.5 tons of salt daily.
The discovered tunnel system isn’t a single cave, but a labyrinth of parallel passages, some stacked directly above one another, showing how miners dug deeper into the mountain over time. This discovery expands knowledge of one of Europe’s oldest industrial sites, where salt, essential for preserving food and trade, shaped the lives of entire communities. Researchers from the Natural History Museum in Vienna are mapping the network and studying how mining techniques evolved. The scale of the tunnels surprised researchers.
Some chambers reach 24 meters wide and 20 meters high, reflecting the miners following salt veins within the rock. Geological surveys revealed additional, previously unknown tunnels suggesting the full extent of the complex remains undiscovered. Despite repeated landslides disrupting work, the community consistently resumed salt extraction.
Archaeologists also found well-preserved artifacts within the tunnels, broken tools with varied handle attachments, Neolithic stone and antler picks, charred wood, clothing fragments, and even preserved waste, offering insights into the daily lives of the miners over millennia. The salt’s preservative properties allowed organic materials to survive for thousands of years.
