Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
This serial property of 111 small individual sites
encompasses the remains 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. Excavations, only conducted in
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.
Fifty-six of the sites are located in Switzerland. 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.