Kupferbergbau auf der Kelchalpe

The Kelchalpe near Kitzbühel in Tirol shows signs of prehistoric copper mining from the late Bronze Age. Much of the evidence was uncovered in the late 18th century by M. Much, who collected stone tools, pottery fragments, hammer stones and animal bones. These finds are now kept in a study collection.

Excavations between the 1930s and 1950s revealed copper ore processing areas with sorting platforms and hearths. Similar sites exist at Röhrerbühel and Schattberg near Kitzbühel, on Wildseeloder near Fieberbrunn, on Kelchalpe and at Wildalpsee at 2030 metres. Early mining took place underground in so-called Verhauen, where short tunnels were driven near the surface. At Mitterberg near Bischofshofen some tunnels reached up to one and a half kilometres long. Collapsed tunnels appear as pits that sink into the ground, often arranged in rows that trace the underground route. A few vertical shafts from that period have also been found.

Later mining has erased many Bronze Age traces on Kelchalpe. The pits here lie scattered in groups or singly, and the tunnels in the soft shale have collapsed or been washed away by water. Tools found on Kelchalpe match those from Mitterberg and Reichenhall and are made of erratic granite. Processing took place close to the pits, but no smelting site remains because the heights lacked both water for final washing and wood for smelting. Smelting therefore happened at lower elevations. Traces of alpine farming to feed the miners have also been discovered. Twentieth-century finds are displayed in the Kitzbühel town museum.