Greifensee–Storen/Wildsberg

The site of the prehistoric settlement

Greifensee–Storen–Wildsberg is one of the 111 serial sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, of which are 56 located in Switzerland.[1][2]

Geography

Nelitic findings from Greifenseee lakeshore

The site is located on Greifensee lakeshore in Wildsberg, a locality of the municipality of Greifensee in the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Because the lake has grown in size over time, the original piles are now around 4 metres (13 ft) to 7 metres (23 ft) under the water level of 435 metres (1,427 ft). The settlement comprises 9.59 hectares (23.70 acres), and the buffer zone including the lake area comprises 11.70 hectares (28.91 acres) in all.

Settlements in Greifensee date back to 4000 BC. In 1975, the Neolithic stilt house village located on the northern lakeshore area called Böschen was discovered by recreational divers. Initially, they found ceramics, lavishly decorated pots and bowls, and simple, large food tanks. In scientific dives, the remains of a village with 24 huts have been revealed. The excellent condition of the timber relicts allows dendrochronological dating to the year 1051 BC. Weaving spindles made of clay, tools, needles and fishing hooks from bronze, charred wild apples and cereals have been conserved. Ten years after its construction, the settlement was destroyed by a fire and not rebuilt.

Description

Characterized is the settlement Storen–Wildsberd, around 1.1 kilometres (1 mi) in the esast of Böschen by a large settlement area on a very steep slope on Greifensee lakeshore. From a scientific point of view and besides the location, a particularly interesting aspect is a phase of occupation dating from the Late Horgen culture. Furthermore, a copper spiral coil and a copper dagger from the Pfyn culture bear early witness to the processing of metal in this region. The settlement is largely undisturbed and thus holds great scientific potential for future research.[3]

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance

As well as being part of the 56 Swiss sites of the UNESCO Worl Heritage Site Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, the settlement is also listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as a Class object.[4]

See also

Literature

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Storen (Greifensee).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Der See erzählt.

References

  1. "Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in Switzerland". Swiss Coordination Group UNESCO Palafittes (palafittes.org). Retrieved 2014-12-10.
  2. "World Heritage". palafittes.org. Retrieved 2014-12-10.
  3. "Sites Switzerland: Greifensee–Storen/Wildsberg (CH-ZH-02)". palafittes.org. Retrieved 2014-12-10.
  4. "A-Objekte KGS-Inventar". Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, Amt für Bevölkerungsschutz. 2009. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
  5. Beat Eberschweiler (2004). "Ur- und frühgeschichtliche Verkehrswege über den Zürichsee: Erste Ergebnisse aus den Taucharchäologischen Untersuchungen beim Seedamm" (in German). ETH Bibliothek. Retrieved 2014-12-08.

Coordinates: 47°17′49.91″N 8°35′46.31″E / 47.2971972°N 8.5961972°E