Document WordPrehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps
Les noms des biens figurent dans la langue dans laquelle les Etats parties les ont soumis.
Autriche (Europe et Amérique du nord) |
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| Date de soumission : | 28/01/2009 |
| Critères: | (ii)(iii)(iv) |
| Catégorie : | Culturel |
| Soumis par : | Federal Ministry of Education, the Arts and Culture |
| Etat, province ou région : | Upper Austria and Carinthia |
| Ref.: | 5415 |
Description
Attersee N47 54 E13 33,
Mondsee N47 49 E13 22,
Traunsee N47 52 E13 48,
Keutschachersee N46 35 E14 9.
The project involves a sample choice of remains of prehistoric dwellings on lake shores and marshlands in several countries around the Alps. Around 750 sites have been listed throughout the Alpine area, not only in Switzerland, but also in France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Germany. Placed under the management of Switzerland, which has led the way in research on lakeside dwellers, the nomination is presented as a transnational serial inscription.
The term "pile dwelling site" designates archaeological finds on lake shores, river banks or marshlands, which have benefited from excellent conservation conditions. Most of the time, they are remains of dwellings that date back to the period between 4300 and 800 BC. They are the relics of old villages which go back to the beginning of rural civilisation. Outside that region, there are very few remains of dwellings in wetlands elsewhere in the world. Therefore, as regards research, these sites can be considered as a typical source from the outskirts of the Alpine area.
The remains of dwellings in wetlands provide evidence of major eras of world history. They help us to understand the complex processes which, over a period of 3,500 years, led to the formation of rural societies in central Europe. They are remainders of the development of metallurgy over thousands of years, from copper to bronze to steel. The vast amount of knowledge we gathered from the lakeside dwellings of Neolithic times and the Bronze Age is quite extraordinary. There are hardly any comparable archaeological sites that give better results as regards accurate dating, conservation of materials, and natural sciences research. Vast quantities of well preserved archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains can be found under water. In a way, they are like major archives available to various fields of natural science such as biology, climatology, sedimentology and pedology that help us improve our knowledge of the relation humans have had to nature down the ages. Dendrochronology makes it possible to date the remains of woods to the nearest year and gives a clear picture of how one age succeeded another, thereby establishing an accurate chronological framework for central Europe.
The Austrian Pile Dwellings
The centre and pivotal position of Austrian pile dwellings in the trading routes of the Eastern Alps offers the unique possibility for a universal reconstruction of the history of culture and environment of large parts of Austria. The important role of mediator of late Neolithic men on the shores of the Salzkammergut lakes and the closely connected copper metallurgy in central Europe of the 4th millennium is still at the very beginning of scientific knowledge.
Most of the Austrian pile dwellings are concentrated in the Salzkammergut in Upper Austria. The majority of the sites date to the late Neolithic or chalcolithic period in the 4th millennium while few reach into the Bronze Age at the End of the 2nd millennium, the Urnfield period around 900 BC and the following Hallstattzeit.
South of the main chain of the Eastern Alps, in Carinthia, two further pile dwelling sites in an island position represent the important connection to the eastern and southern Neolithic culture areas.
Salzkammergut (Upper Austria)
North of the main chain of the Alps the pile dwellings are situated in three lakes of the Salzkammergut: Attersee, Mondsee and Traunsee. Despite the domination of two cultures in the earlier Neolithic periods (Linear Pottery culture and Lengyel culture) the late Neolithic was formed by a broad variety of different cultures. Emerging in the first quarter of the 4th millennium in the area of the Salzkammergut the remains of the Mondsee group give the impression of a prospering and dynamic society closely connected to the geological prospection and exploitation of copper deposits. Although the cultural group is denominated after the Mondsee by far most of the sites dated in this period are located in the Attersee. It is the largest of the lakes mentioned and covers an area of almost 46 km2. It's smaller neighbour, the Mondsee, has a surface area of approx. 14 km2.
The Traunsee is the second largest of the Salzkammergut lakes. It stretches in north-south direction over an area of 24 km2 with a length of 12 km and width of approx. 3 km. It contains the only known Austrian pile dwelling site from the Hallstattzeit and thus represents the end of the pile dwelling phenomena.
Keutschachersee (Carinthia)
The Keutschachersee is the largest of a row of four lakes in a valley south to the Worthersee in Carinthia. The pile dwelling rests in the middle of the lake on a shallow that reaches almost the water surface. The site is part of the Kanzianiberg-Lasinja group, which is by oneself part of the Epilengyel complex with influences from the Lasinja culture. The pile dwelling is important not only because of this cultural connection to Hungary but also because it is situated in a settlement triangle between the sites of Slovene, Italy and the pile dwellings of Upper Austria. Up to now it is not only the first discovered pile dwelling in Austria (1864) but also the site with the oldest dating (approx. 4100 - 3700 BC). Recent research shows that despite the sensitive condition of the Keutschachersee pile dwelling there is a lot of new information.
Already known relics from mediaeval times are replenished with new material from the Urnfield culture (ca. 930 - 800 BC).
Some Austrian pile dwellings are protected by means of federal law for the protection of monuments.
Valeur universelle exceptionnelle
Justification de la Valeur Universelle Exceptionelle
Prehistoric lake, river and swamp waterside settlements are the most important source of archaeological finds for the first agrarian societies between the 5th and 1st millennia B.C. Pile dwellings have been studied scientifically for 150 years and are one of the major themes of European prehistory. It is largely on the basis of research on this topic that a wide public has come to develop a picture of the past.
The exceptional anaerobic conditions of conservation prevailing under water ensure the preservation of organic material, and therefore provide a highly detailed picture of prehistoric populations' living conditions. Research results from waterside settlements or from sites conserved under humid conditions therefore also have a substantial influence on the understanding of the transition between the Neolithic and Bronze Age beyond the circum alpine regions. Dendrochronological analysis is based on thousands of wood samples originating from waterside sites. It provides precise dating of archaeological ensembles and for the reconstruction of the architectural organisation of villages, of their history and of their development. Further, the long series of dendrochronological data enable one to correct C14 dating, which is also applicable in sites outside humid zones which have no wood available for dendrochronological dating (C14 calibration curves).
The successive layers in waterside and swamp settlements are valuable archives for natural sciences and provide unique information on the economic and ecological development of prehistoric societies in relation to their environment.
Criteria
(ii): Numerous technical innovations developed by prehistoric populations can be followed through finds in waterside settlements, in terms of both their chronological development and their specific characteristics. Further, thanks to the preciseness of the data available, cultural influences and migration models can be determined over a wider geographical area.
(iii): Pile dwelling sites span close to 4000 years of history. They conveniently provide unique information on several cultures which have disappeared without leaving written records. The 750 sites which have been recorded in the circum alpine region provide exceptional possibilities for the study of the first prehistoric agrarian societies.
(iv): Pile dwelling sites provide remarkable examples of the architecture of prehistoric waterside settlements. All waterside villages studied to date are settlements which are organised according to regular patterns, reflecting continuous building traditions spanning long time periods. The remains provide the basis for writing a history of the architecture over more than three millennia and to observe the recurring patterns in building traditions of Neolithic and Bronze Age societies.
(v): Thanks to archaeo-biological analyses or to those concerned with the study of prehistoric forest economy, the relics of waterside settlements show the multiple interactions at the time between man and the natural environment. Over this long time span, the diverse strategies which can be testified for food acquisition vary according to local topographic and supra regional climatic conditions. The numerous ways in which the first agrarian societies depended on and interacted with their environment can be described in great detail, thanks to the intensive collaboration between pile dwelling archaeology and natural sciences.
Satements of authenticity and/or integrity
Pile dwellings sites represent the relics of waterside settlements dating from a period starting around 4500 B.C. and ending around 800 B.C. They therefore cover close to four millennia of ancient history. Remains are the only source of potential data for this period, since it predates the emergence of written script in this geographical region. Waterside settlement relics, which were destroyed voluntarily or involuntarily, may have been disturbed by management for new dwellings, or by natural processes such as erosion, by fire or during conflicts. Then, for the following millennia, a rapid sedimentation favoured the conservation of the settlement ruins and artefacts left behind by the inhabitants.
Therefore, settlement relics conserved in soil or under water are perfectly authentic and without modern modifications.
Comparison with other similar properties
Prehistoric alpine region pile dwellings are a special and unique archeological phenomenon in terms of its scientific importance. Although they are not the only prehistoric sites which can conserve organic material, settlements built on humid soils are relatively infrequent in Europe. They can, for example, be found in southern Europe (southern France, northern Spain, central Italy, Albania, Greece), in north-eastern Europe (the Baltic Sea, Poland, Denmark, northern Germany) as well as in the British Isles. Nevertheless, their number is small compared to the more than 750 available sites found around the alpine area. Unlike the waterside settlements of the circum alpine zone, the geographical and chronological spread of other European sites is extremely heterogeneous; they can generally be considered as unique discoveries, with very specific conservation conditions. The waterside sites in the alpine area display broad homogeneity from both the chronological and the geographical perspectives.
Beside lakes, rivers or marshlands in the circum alpine area, ice pockets in the alpine zone also provide comparable or even better conservation conditions. However, so far, there are only two such sites in the Alps from which Neolithic and Bronze Age artifacts have been discovered. In both cases, they can be described, from an archeological point of view, as isolated finds. From an international perspective, these finds have similarities with mummies found in Siberian or high Andean plateau permafrost areas, to which one can also associate the discoveries made in salt mines and saline deserts.
The comparison with other prehistoric Neolithic and Bronze Age sites, as well as with other emerged or submerged archeological sites, can be addressed at several levels and reveals the specific characteristic of pile dwellings.