<< Feature Articles >> Prehistoric sites to visit around Innsbruck and the Tyrol, western Austria
Submitted by Andy B on Monday, 02 April 2018 Page Views: 7639
DiscoveriesCountry: Austria
Ötzi Village (Otzi Dorf) is a archeological open-air museum in Umhausen, 37km W of Innsbruck, which tells the story of the Alps' earliest inhabitants, including the world famous Iceman, or glacial mummy who was discovered in 1991 in the Oetztal Alps.
In the park you can see reconstructions of dolmens, statue menhirs, other cult and ritual sites, traditional thatched huts, and enclosures where wild boar and oxen roam. There are living history demonstrations, craft displays and you can meet “Oetzi Franz”, their own Iceman and other costumed interpreters.
There is a memorial to Ötzi close to where he was found, on the border between Austria and Italy, close to the Hauslabjoch Pass - you can read more about him on our page here, scroll down to see all the comment.
The mummy of Ötzi is in the Museum at Bolzano, which is well worth a visit too, officially known as the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology (Museo archeologico dell'Alto Adige) and just over the border in Italy.
Getting back to the Austrian Tyrol, Spronser Seen (Sprons Lakes - image top of page) has some fantastic rock art, similar to that found in Sweden and Scotland, but much less well known. Click the link to go to our page for Spronser Seen, and look for the ‘nearby sites’ list for lots more rock art.
In 2001, the community of Algund in the South Tyrol created an amazing piece of megalithic land art, a collaboration with the German artist Heinrich Bunzel and architect Martin Geier. 101 stones of different sizes, some up to 2m in height and weghin over 2 tonnes have been arranged to represent the sun with ten rays.Tischoferhoehle Cave was inhabited from Palaeolithic times, archaeologists found artifacts going back to around 30000 BC, and around 30 Bronze Age skeletons were also found in the cave. In the nearby Hyaenenhoehlen caves, ancient bronze furnaces were found.
All in all, Innsbruck and the surrounding area makes a lovely place for a holiday or short break - having hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976, it is of course a major winter sports centre, with skiing, snowboarding, skating and much more. For a summer visit the region has a whole host of outdoor sports such as cycling and mountain biking, paragliding, along with of course hiking and walking and Sightseeing in Innsbruck - in areas of great natural beauty such as the Karwendel Alpine Park or the Zirbenweg trail on Patscherkofel. Innsbruck and Austria in general is a very friendly and well run place, which all helps to make for a wonderful trip. With many thanks to MaRe, Ladrin, Martyn ‘TheCaptain’ , Fornjotr and Innsbruck.info for their assistance with this article. For more places to visit, click on the links and browse the nearby sites from those pages.
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