Early Farmers of the European Alpine Space: The Archaeology of Lake Shore Settlements and Relations to Climatic Changes of the Holocene

Prehistoric settlements in lakes and bogs from the period 5000-1000 BCE have been one of the most important archaeological sources on the early history of European agrarian societies since their discovery in the mid-19th century. The special preservation conditions under water and thus under exclusion of oxygen allow the preservation of organic material that is usually missing in other contexts. This concerns especially wood, but also textiles, and others. Large quantities of wood samples allow dendrochronological, year-precise dating which have been systematically applied for several decades. This allows us to decipher the architectural structure of settlements as well as their building history. The lecture will give an overview of underwater archaeological research in lakes of Switzerland and the Alpine region. Further, to deepen the topic of climatic influences, a short survey of a high alpine site in the Bernese Alps will be presented. The lecture completes with an outlook on an ongoing research project in lakes of the southern Balkans.