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Projects

Deciphering Lakeside Settlements

The prehistoric lakeside settlements of the Neolithic and Bronze Age, known as pile dwellings, are famous for their organic finds such as plant remains or wooden tools. Their preservation was the basis for revolutionary studies on the prehistoric economy and environment. But previous methods had their limits - as did traditional models of thought. We are attempting a systematic new start. 

Aims and scope of the research project

The scientific study of the pile dwellings has brought to light many details of the prehistoric economy and human-environment relationships. But they are still not really understood. Were all the pile dwellings self-sufficient villages? Were they really inhabited all year round? How would we recognise if people were only present seasonally? Perhaps our concepts of economy and settlement have been too simple so far. These ideas now need to be scrutinised. Our methods also have blind spots. Some cultivated plants and some fish species leave only poorly identifiable remains. Their importance for the economy is therefore probably underestimated. Palaeogenetic investigations directly on the sediments can provide a methodological supplement. The potential they offer for the study of pile dwellings has never been tested.

This project aims to lay the foundations for the application of palaeogenetics to sediments in pile-dwelling archaeology - with a particular focus on the mutual interdisciplinary examination and supplementation by established bioarchaeology. In addition, questions on the seasonality and mobility of humans and domestic animals will be clarified with isotope studies. Finally, we will use local pollen analyses and ancient environmental DNA to investigate the question of how the cultural landscape and the lake ecosystem has developed under the pressure of human use as defined by the other disciplines.

Scientific and societal context

New technologies are always an opportunity for a discipline to question and improve its own methods and axioms and to reorganise itself. This is just as true for academic archaeology as it is for heritage preservation. In addition to academic progress, this project is also intended to serve the development of minimally invasive and economical monument conservation processes in the 2030s and is therefore also supported by the cantons of Zurich and Schwyz.