Beyond lake villages. Archaeological excavations and paleoecologal analysis at Lake Burgäschi/Switzerland.

Abstract

In 2015 started the international research project “Beyond lake villages: Studying Neolithic environmental changes and human impact at small lakes in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.” (University of Bern in collaboration with Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Wurtemberg and University of Vienna, funding: SNF-DFG-FFW). Three archaeological and three palaeoecological teams work together on three small lakes on the Northern side of the Alps. The aim is to compare environmental changes and human impact of Neolithic societies. The Swiss study area is Lake Burgaschi, a small water body in the central part of the Swiss Midlands. Archaeological research started already in 1877 and several major excavation campaigns took place in the 1940ies and 1950ies. Up to now four settlement of the 4th millennium BC areas are known and single finds indicate settlement activities during the 5th and 3rd millennia BC. The presentation gives an overview on former and recent activities in one of the classic find spots of Swiss pile-dwellings research. A special focus will be put on new archaeological and palaeoecological results.