Laugen-Melaun culture

Laugen-Melaun culture
Geographical rangeNorth Italy, Austria, Switzerland
PeriodBronze Age, Iron Age
Datesc. 1350 BC - 500 BC
Preceded byUrnfield culture, Facies of the pile dwellings and of the dammed settlements
Followed byFritzens-Sanzeno culture

The Laugen-Melaun culture (from German Laugen-Melaun-Kultur) or Luco culture (in Italian) was a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age archaeological culture in the Alps, between Trentino, South Tyrol, East Tyrol, and in the part of Engadin below the Reschen Pass.[1] The name derives from two findspots in the Eisacktal, where artefacts belonging to the culture have been found: the small Lake Laugen between Natz and Elvas and the village of Mellaun (formerly spelt "Melaun") near Brixen. The term was coined in 1927 by Gero von Merhart.

Jug of the Laugen-Melaun-Kultur, ca. 1000 BC, found at Feldkirch, Austria.
  1. ^ Gleirscher 1991, p. 12f. n. 4.