Theodor Mommsen und die Bedeutung des Römischen Rechts. Abhandlungen zum Römischen Recht und zur Antiken Rechtsgeschichte

Der Band widmet sich aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive dem altertums- und rechtswissenschaftlichen Vermächtnis von Theodor Mommsen. Im Zentrum des Interesses stehen die vielfältigen inhaltlichen und methodischen Anregungen, die Mommsens OEuvre sowohl auf die Altertums- wie auf die Rechtswissenschaft ausgeübt hat. Besonderes Augenmerk findet seine romanistische Antrittsvorlesung über »Die Bedeutung des römischen Rechts«, die der 34-jährige Gelehrte am 8. Mai 1852 an der Universität Zürich gehalten hat. Der vorliegende Band enthält die Beiträge einer internationalen Tagung, die am 11. und 12. Mai 2012 an der Universität Bern durchgeführt wurde.

Archaeological Discoveries on Schnidejoch and at Other Ice Sites in the European Alps

Only a few sites in the Alps have produced archaeological finds from melting ice. To date, prehistoric finds from four sites dating from the Neolithic period, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age have been recovered from small ice patches (Schnidejoch, Lötschenpass, Tisenjoch, and Gemsbichl/Rieserferner). Glaciers, on the other hand, have yielded historic finds and frozen human remains that are not more than a few hundred years old (three glacier mummies from the 16th to the 19th century and military finds from World Wars I and II). Between 2003 and 2010, numerous archaeological finds were recovered from a melting ice patch on the Schnidejoch in the Bernese Alps (Cantons of Berne and Valais, Switzerland). These finds date from the Neolithic period, the Early Bronze Age, the Iron Age, Roman times, and the Middle Ages, spanning a period of 6000 years. The Schnidejoch, at an altitude of 2756 m asl, is a pass in the Wildhorn region of the western Bernese Alps. It has yielded some of the earliest evidence of Neolithic human activity at high altitude in the Alps. The abundant assemblage of finds contains a number of unique artifacts, mainly from organic materials like leather, wood, bark, and fibers. The site clearly proves access to high-mountain areas as early as the 5th millennium BC, and the chronological distribution of the finds indicates that the Schnidejoch pass was used mainly during periods when glaciers were retreating.