Bodies Marked by Labor
On the Dürrnberg plateau, south of Salzburg, archaeologists have uncovered a cemetery from the Iron Age, dating from roughly the 6th to the 1st century BCE. The skeletons buried here belonged to a community that grew wealthy from mining "white gold"—salt. Paleopathological analysis of these 2,500-year-old remains reveals a society whose demanding physical labor left permanent marks on their bodies. These are not the bones of warriors, but of industrial workers from the Hallstatt and La Tène periods.
The skeletons show distinct patterns of musculoskeletal stress markers, bony changes at the points where muscles and ligaments attach. These markers allow scientists to infer habitual activities. One group of skeletons, presumed to be the miners, exhibits significant degenerative changes in their spines, particularly in the lumbar region. This is consistent with the stress of swinging heavy picks and lifting blocks of salt deep within the mountain. Another group shows different trauma: their feet and ankles are deformed, with pronounced changes to the joints of the big toe. This pattern points to the immense strain of carrying heavy loads, likely sacks of salt, up and down steep terrain. The evidence written in their bones suggests a clear division of labor between those who excavated the salt and those who transported it.