Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn, more often called Hurden Rosshorn or simply Rosshorn, is one of the 111 serial sites of the

UNESCO World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by int ...

'' Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The Rosshorn site is exceptional because it doesn't contain remains of a prehistoric settlement but instead remains of prehistoric and historic bridges that were built in a shallow area of

Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

Geography and location

The ''Rosshorn'' is the tip of the

Hurden Hurden is a village in the municipality of Freienbach in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. First mentioned in 1217, the name "de Hurden" was used for the peninsula and for the fish traps made of woven work, called "Hürden" or "Hurden", which ...

peninsula in the Swiss

Canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one ...

that protrudes into Lake Zurich. A dam called ''

Seedamm The Rapperswil Seedamm is the artificial causeway at the narrowest area of Lake Zurich between Hurden, Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The structure contains two bridge segments and is approximately long. The Seedamm carries a road () and ...

'' connects Hurden Rosshorn and

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 ...

on the other side of the lake. Like various

former bridges A former is an object, such as a template, Gauge block, gauge or cutting Die (manufacturing), die, which is used to form something such as a boat's Hull (watercraft), hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curv ...

, the Seedamm runs across the narrowest area of Lake Zurich, dividing the lake's main part and the southeastern ''Obersee'' lake area. The archaeological site ''Rosshorn'' is located beneath one of the bridges of the Seedamm and in a small adjoining water area on the Seedamm's western side. It extends from the bridge mainly to the southwest and includes the northern lakeshore of Hurden. The Rosshorn site comprises and the buffer zone comprises . Prehistoric pile dwelling settlements were built at several sites in the vicinity, most notably

Freienbach–Hurden Seefeld Freienbach–Hurden Seefeld 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 Hurden-Seefeld is located at the ''Frauenwinkel'' are ...

and, on the Rapperswil side,

Rapperswil-Jona–Technikum Rapperswil-Jona–Technikum 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. It is a small former island in the '' upper Lake Zürich'' in Rap ...

as well as Rapperswil-Jona/Hombrechtikon–Feldbach.

Findings

Freienbach–Hurden Rosshorn provides early evidence of transport routes combined with special metal finds interpreted as sacrificial offerings. The site includes several lake crossings, the earliest dating back to the

Horgen culture The Horgen culture is one of several archaeological cultures belonging to the Neolithic period of Switzerland. The Horgen culture may derive from the Pfyn culture and early Horgen pottery is similar to the earlier Cortaillod culture pottery of ...

. Several

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

construction phases have been identified, as well as remains from the

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallst ...

and

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

providing dendrochronological dates about periods from which no other sites are known.

Protection

As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO World Heritage ''Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', the Rosshorn site 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 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.

Literature

* 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'', vol. 96, Schwyz 2004, p. 11–32
online
at e-periodica.ch). * Thomas Scherer, Philipp Wiemann: ''Freienbach SZ-Hurden Rosshorn: Ur- und frühgeschichtliche Wege und Brücken über den Zürichsee.'' In: ''Jahrbuch Archäologie Schweiz'', vol. 91, 2008, p. 7–38
online
at e-periodica.ch).

References

External links