The Lake Dwellers of Europe
Evidence Shows a Guarded Life on Lakes in Switzerland and Elsewhere
Jun 15, 2009
The same thing occurred when Swiss engineers attempted to control flooding in the Jura region, causing the water levels to drop in the lakes of Biel (Bienne), Morat, and Neuemburg (Neuchâtel).
These people, also called Pfalbauer, Pile Dwellers, or Lake Dwellers, lived from Neolithic times into the Bronze Age, approximately 4300 BC to 700 BC. Entire towns once lived on these lakes, and researchers still do not know why they chose to live on water, rather than land. Some researchers say that wetlands are a natural defense to the outside world.
Radio-carbon evidence suggests they grew farms on land, including a unique type of wheat known as “lake dwelling wheat,” or triticum durum/turgidum. Flax was cultivated to make clothing. They also tended their livestock on land. Bones have been found of dogs, pigs, sheep, and goats in western Switzerland.
The Lake Dwellers also foraged for hazelnuts, acorns, wild apples (which they halved and dried), and wild berries, according to old garbage.
Archaeologists have found evidence of fishing activity and traded pottery. Intricate copper and bronze objects have also been found in the Lake of Biel, Switzerland.
Lake Dwellers Found Across Europe
Since the 1853 discovery, evidence of other Lake Dwellers have popped up all over Europe, in places such as the crannogs of Scotland, the Po River in Italy, the Save River in Bosnia, and the Theiss River in Hungary. More than 450 such sites have been found in Switzerland alone. Four hundred more exist in the Alps. Many of these sites are still underwater.
The towns were entirely built on stilts, or piles, with a system of palisades or fences leading from one house to another. The houses were typically just one large room, and were thought to represent one family, based on the number of tools and types of grains stored in each house. Ancient roads on land that led to these lake dwellings have also been discovered on the banks of Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
No evidence of social structure exists, since no burial grounds have ever been found. There is evidence, however, that living on the lakes was not consistent. It usually occurred during times of drought. Rising water levels may have forced them to leave these lake villages, however some evidence suggests that culture may have played a part as well.
The Bell Beaker culture expanded in the northern Alpine region, and the Lake Dwellers were either forced to leave or they adapted to the Bell Beaker culture and a life on land.
Swiss Ensure Pile Research
When expanding or repairing roads near lakes in Switzerland, there are often funds set aside to analyze evidence of the Lake Dwellers.
One of the most memorable discoveries was in 2000 in Zug-Schützenmatt, Switzerland. A moss pad dating back to 3150 BC was found with a leather strip on the bottom. It turns out that it was a foot pad with leather gripping!
Although there are few ongoing excavations in Switzerland, artifacts continue to be found, making the story of the Lake Dwellers richer and more dynamic.
Sources:
Arnold, Beat, archaeologist and director of Latenium Parc et Musee d’Archéologie de Neuchâtel, Hauterive, Swizerland.
Hafner, Albert, Swiss archaeologist, professor at the University of Bern, and manager of UNESCO project “Lake-dwellings as UNESCO world heritage.”
Menotti, Francesco. 2004. Living on the Lake in Prehistoric Europe. Routledge: New York, NY.
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