Saturday 27 April 2019

Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps

This is not a very easy site to see because most of the piles are underwater. I was already a few times in Morges and I didn't see a single sign of where the piles could be.

Remains of Pile Dwellings in Austria 

Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps is a series of prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands.

Reconstructed Pile Dwellings in Unteruhldingen, Germany
This postcard was sent by Crazy-Cooper

111 sites, located in Austria (5 sites), France (11), Germany (18), Italy (19), Slovenia (2), and Switzerland (56), were added to UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2011.

Isolino Virginia, Italy
This postcard was sent by Marina

Excavations, conducted in only some of the sites, have yielded evidence that provides insight into life in prehistoric times during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Alpine Europe, and the way communities interacted with their environment. As the nomination stated, 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 in the region.

Reconstituted Pile Dwellings in Hauterive, Switzerland 
This postcard was sent by Christine

Contrary to popular belief, the houses were not erected over water, but on nearby marshy land. They were set on piles to protect against occasional flooding. 

Drawing of the Pile Dwellings in Kolisca, Slovenia
This postcard was sent by Javier

Because the lakes have grown in size over time, many of the original piles are now under water, giving modern observers the false impression that they have always been this way. - in: wikipedia

I'm still missing a postcard from France 

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