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Prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich comprises 11 – or 10% of all European pile dwelling sites – of a total of 56
prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...
in Switzerland, that are located around
Lake Zurich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich (Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used t ...
in the cantons of
Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ...
,
St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...
and
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...
.


Geography

These 11 – including one further on the nearby '' Greifensee'' and Robenhausen on ''
Pfäffikersee Pfäffikersee (or ''Lake Pfäffikon'') is a lake in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland, near the town of Pfäffikon. It is 2.5 km long and 1.3 km wide at the middle. The lake was created in the last ice age when a moraine blocked off th ...
'' lakeshore – prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements were built from around 5000 BC to 500 BC and are concentrated within an area of about , on
Lake Zurich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich (Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used t ...
respectively ''Obersee'' lakeshore in the cantons of
Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ...
,
St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...
and
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...
. As part of a series of, in all, 111 European prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, they were added to the
UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
list in 2011. Archaeological excavations were conducted in only some of the sites, to preserve the heritage for future generations. Nevertheless, the
excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
yielded evidence that provides insight into life in prehistoric times during the
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
and
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
in Alpine Europe and the way communities interacted with their environment. The settlements are a unique group of exceptionally well-preserved and culturally rich archaeological sites, which constitute one of the most important sources for the study of early agrarian societies.


Topography

Contrary to popular belief, the settlements were not erected over water, but on nearby marshy land, among them on the
Seedamm The Rapperswil Seedamm is the partially artificial causeway and bridge at the most narrow area of Lake Zurich, between Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The Seedamm carries a road and a railway across the lake, with the railway being used by the ...
respectively
Frauenwinkel Frauenwinkel is a mire landscape in Switzerland, situated at the ''Seedamm'' area on ''Zürichsee'' lakeshore in the municipality of Freienbach in the Canton of Schwyz. Geography Frauenwinkel is situated on the ''Seedamm'' area in Hurden, ...
area, or, on the then swamp land between the Limmat and Lake Zurich around Sechseläutenplatz on small islands and
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...
s in Zürich. The settlements were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding by the
Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Swiss river that rises near the village of Linthal in the mountains of the canton of Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee section of Lake Zurich. It is about in length. The water power of the Linth ...
and Jona. Because the lake has grown in size over time, most of the original piles are now around to under the water level of , giving modern observers the false impression that they always had been surrounded by water.


Sites on Lake Zurich lakeshore area

Of the transnational 111 serial sites 56 are in Switzerland in 15 (out of 26) different Swiss cantons. Excavations of the "Pan-European stilt house settlements" began in Switzerland. During the winter of 1853–54, in the context of lowered water levels at Lake Zurich, archaeologist
Ferdinand Keller Ferdinand Keller may refer to: * Ferdinand Keller (archaeologist) (1800–1881), Swiss archaeologist and prehistorian * Ferdinand Keller (footballer) Ferdinand Keller (born 30 July 1946 in Munich) is a German former football player. He spent fi ...
discovered the remains of the Meilen–Rorenhaab site. Probably the majority of the important sites of the so-called Horgen culture are situated on lakeshore, including
Grosser Hafner Grossner Hafner is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Geography Grosser Hafner was located on the then swamp area between the ...
on a former lake island and
Kleiner Hafner Kleiner Hafner is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. Geography Kleiner Hafner was located on the then swamp land between the ri ...
on a peninsula at '' Sechseläutenplatz'' respectively at the effluence of the Limmat, and Zürich–Enge Alpenquai within an area of about in the city of Zürich. The prehistoric lake crossings on the upper lake (''Obersee'') between
Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...
and Hurden on the ''
Seedamm The Rapperswil Seedamm is the partially artificial causeway and bridge at the most narrow area of Lake Zurich, between Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The Seedamm carries a road and a railway across the lake, with the railway being used by the ...
'' area, including the four pile dwellings Rapperswil-Jona-Technikum, Seegubel, Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn and Freienbach–Hurden Seefeld are unique on an world scale. The settlement Robenhausen at the
Pfäffikersee Pfäffikersee (or ''Lake Pfäffikon'') is a lake in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland, near the town of Pfäffikon. It is 2.5 km long and 1.3 km wide at the middle. The lake was created in the last ice age when a moraine blocked off th ...
is also a unique site, discovered and researched by Jakob Messikommer at the end of the 19th century, as being continuously inhabited for thousands of years; most of the settlements were inhabited for some decades and then re-erected at a quite different location. Sources, among them area, date and location as well as coordinates and ID, used in the table base on
Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...
, and are listed as references.Location and coordinates taken fro
Palafittes.org nominating documents-Revised executive summary
accessed 12 August 2011. Coordinates converted from
UTM UTM may refer to: Computing * Unified threat management, an approach to network security * Universal Turing machine, a theoretical computer * Urchin Tracking Module, a Web analytics package that served as the base for Google Analytics * Usabil ...
.
The list bases on the dates of December 2014.


Protection

As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, each of these 11 prehistoric pile dwellings is also listed in the
Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...
as a ''Class A'' object of national importance. Hence, the area of each settlement is provided as a historical site under federal protection, within the meaning of the Swiss Federal Act on the nature and cultural heritage (German: Bundesgesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz NHG) of 1 July 1966. Unauthorised researching and purposeful gathering of findings represent a criminal offense according to Art. 24.


See also

*
Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...


Literature

* Peter J. Suter, Helmut Schlichtherle et al.: ''Pfahlbauten – Palafittes – Palafitte''. Palafittes, Biel 2009. . * Beat Eberschweiler: ''Ur- und frühgeschichtliche Verkehrswege über den Zürichsee: Erste Ergebnisse aus den Taucharchäologischen Untersuchungen beim Seedamm''. In: Mitteilungen des Historischen Vereins des Kantons Schwyz, Volume 96, Schwyz 2004.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prehistoric pile dwellings around Zurichsee Prehistoric pile dwellings in Switzerland Stilt houses Lake Zurich Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Schwyz Cultural property of national significance in the canton of St. Gallen Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zürich