Wetzikon–Robenhausen is one of the 111 serial sites of the

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

'' Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps'', of which are 56 located in Switzerland. The site is located on ''

Pfäffikersee Pfäffikersee (or ''Lake Pfäffikon'') is a lake in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland, near the town of Pfäffikon, Zurich, 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 mor ...

'' lakeshore in

Robenhausen Robenhausen is a locality in Wetzikon, one of the municipalities of the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. The wetland Robenhauser Ried belongs to the protected area surrounding ''Pfäffikersee''. The prehistoric pile dwelling around Lake Zurich '' W ...

, a locality of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Wetzikon Wetzikon is a small town in the Zürcher Oberland, Zurich Highlands (Zürcher Oberland) area of Switzerland, in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich. Geography The Municipal ...

in the

Canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

in Switzerland.

Geography

The site is located on ''

'' lake shore in

, a locality of the

in the

in Switzerland. The settlement comprises around , and the buffer zone including the lake area comprises around in all.

Description

The area at the southern end of the ''Pfäffikersee'' lake shore has been inhabited for over 10,000 years. Neolithic hunters and collectors built during the European

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

at various locations storage bins, and in the Neolithic period several small, permanently inhabited settlements near the shore. Wetzikon–Robenhausen is situated in the Robenhausen wetland between

Seegräben Seegräben is a village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. Besides the village of Seegräben itself, the m ...

and

Kempten Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...

covering an area of about . The settlement site is characterized by the excellent preservation of organic remains and evidence of textile production, including textiles and parts of a Neolithic loom. A rare find is a board which was probably a door, attributed to the

Pfyn culture The Pfyn Culture is one of several archaeological cultures of the Neolithic period in Switzerland. It dates from c. 4300 BC to c. 3500 BC. Discovery The oldest traces of a settlement are about west of Pfyn in the former peat bog of ''Breiten ...

. The age of a dugout found in 1943 is not yet released. Back to the middle-European Bronze Age era date numerous individual finds, among them two trailers. Further excavations at ''Tösstalstrasse'' provided evidence of a settlement of the Glockenbecher culture. Except for individual finds and

Jakob Messikommer Jakob Messikommer (18 August 1828 – 23 August 1917) was a Swiss archaeologist who among others discovered and researched the UNESCO serial site Wetzikon–Robenhausen. Bibliography Personal life Born in the hamlet of ''Stegen'' in Wetzik ...

's excavations to the 1900s, the vast protected area is not yet explored in its entire extent.

Archaeological excavations

The remains of the Neolithic settlements in the protected marsh area were discovered by

between 1856 and 1858. On occasion of several excavations Messikommer reported the discovery of a dugout of a peculiar form and other artefacts of the equipment of a hunter; he also distinguished two of a peat layer separate segmented layers which Messikommer interpreted as a settlement that was rebuilt, and in fact he was right. Additional individual finds included longbows, hatchets made of stone and stag horn, and ceramics. Messikommer identified, among the organic finds, however 58 different animal species. In another of his excavations Messikommer revealed the remains of woven fabrics, braids and seeds and evidence of the production of butter. Carved wooden knife, a trowel and scoops, a yoke of hazel, flail, remains of a garment and one from raffia braided mat were other single finds.''Pfahlbau Robenhausen, Bericht des Herrn Messikomer''. In: ''Mitteilungen der Antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zürich'', Zürich 1913. Jakob Messikommer's achievements were honored with a memorial stone and the so-called ''Messikomer Eich'', an oak in the Robenhausen reed.

Protection

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

* Peter J. Suter, Helmut Schlichtherle et al.: ''Pfahlbauten – Palafittes – Palafitte''. Palafittes, Biel 2009. . * ''Pfahlbaufieber. Von Antiquaren, Pfahlbaufischern, Altertümerhändlern und Pfahlbaumythen.'' ''Mitteilungen der Antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zürich'', volume 71. Chronos, Zürich 2004.

References

External links

*
Stadt Zürich Unterwasserarchäologie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wetzikon-Robenhausen Prehistoric pile dwellings in Switzerland Wetzikon Pfäffikersee Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zurich World Heritage Sites in Switzerland Stilt houses