Flanged picks from Hallstatt
In the Early Iron Age, the miners in Hallstatt still used picks made of bronze, rather than iron. Although the miners were acquainted with iron, as evidenced by the finds from the cemetery, they continued to use bronze for their picks. At the Dürrnberg plateau near Hallein (the second important Iron Age salt producer), however, miners used iron picks.The flanged pick of the Hallstatt miners had a sophisticated wooden mounting. The beech wood knee-haft had a club-like head with a short, thick handle that was markedly thinner in the upper third. This feature not only protected the valuable metal tip, but also reduced wrist contusion. The special alloy used for the pick has a higher percentage of tin (10% or more) than was commonly used at the time, which makes the pick considerably harder, but also quite brittle. As a consequence, the tips of the picks broke off fairly often.
(Reschreiter, H. – Kowarik, K.)
