Pile dwellings were settlements standing atop of of lakes and marshes around the Alps in Europe, from Neolithic to Bronze age.

The common characteristic of pile dwellings is the construction of dwellings on support posts that were used as stabilization in wet environments. These piles could also carry the roof or form part of the walls. Sometimes they were also part of jetties, bridges, palisades or fish traps.

Up to 25 villages can thus lie above or next to each other in a small area and a single village could include 5 to 80 houses. Up to 500 people lived in larger settlements.

Many of the settlements evolved spontaneously from individual houses built by pioneers, others were planned and built at the same time. Initially, the houses were used only between 5 and 20 years and then rebuilt. Sometimes, the entire village was relocated after only a few decades, either close by or further afield. It was not until the latter part of the Late Stone Age that the first longer lasting settlements were built, and in the Late Bronze Age, some villages survived in the same location for 50 to 100 years.

Animal bones are among the most frequent finds recovered from settlement layers. Herds of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats provided meat, bone and other raw materials.

Single-piece dugout canoes, up to 12m long, were the earliest means of transport used by the pile dwellers. Pile dwellings have also yielded the earliest preserved wheel in Europe. They probably belonged to two-wheeled carts that were drawn by oxen. From approximately 3400 BC onwards, these carts facilitated the transportation of building materials and agricultural produce. The horse as a mount or as a beast of burden was only introduced from around 2000 BC onwards.

Trade played an important part in introducing novelties and exchange of goods and materials. Individuals that had certain skills, such as ore melting, held an important status in the society of that time.

Sources: docs.google.com/document/d/1mnK9tpEvz9UgeVWuUh8fPF…

More history in the heart of Europe:    • History in the heart of Europe  

If you learned something, feel free to like and subscribe... you know how YouTube works. 👍

Edited with Vegas Pro 19

#history #europe #lake #shorts