The end of the lake-dwellings in the Circum-Alpine region

After more than 3500 years of occupation in the Neolithic and Bronze Age, the many lake-dwellings around the Circum-Alpine region ‘suddenly’ came to an end. Throughout that period alternating phases of occupation and abandonment illustrate how resilient lacustrine populations were against change: cultural/environmental factors might have forced them to relocate temporarily, but they always returned to the lakes. So why were the lake-dwellings finally abandoned and what exactly happened towards the end of the Late Bronze Age that made the lake-dwellers change their way of life so drastically? The new research presented here draws upon the results of a four-year-long project dedicated to shedding light on this intriguing conundrum. Placing a particular emphasis upon the Bronze Age, a multidisciplinary team of researchers has studied the lake-dwelling phenomenon inside out, leaving no stones unturned, enabling identification of all possible interactive socioeconomic and environmental factors that can be subsequently tested against each other to prove (or disprove) their validity. By refitting the various pieces of the jigsaw a plausible, but also rather unexpected, picture emerges. Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of contributors List of figures List of tables Chapter 1: The lake-dwelling phenomenon: myth, reality and…archaeology Francesco Menotti Chapter 2: Bronze Age lacustrine settlements in the Circum-Alpine region: chronology, architectural styles, occupational patterns, and much more Joachim Köninger Chapter 3: Dendrochronology and Bronze Age lake-dwellings on both sides of the Alps: from chronology to dendrotypology, highlighting settlement developments and structural woodland changes Andre Billamboz and Nicoletta Martinelli Chapter 4: Climatic variations in the Circum-Alpine area during the period 4500-2500 cal BP, as reflected by palaeohydrological changes Michel Magny Chapter 5: Micromorphological studies on wetland site formation processes: additional help for a better understanding of the lake-dwellings' final disappearance Philipp Wiemann and Philippe Rentzel Chapter 6: Vegetation history and plant economy in the Circum-Alpine region Bronze Age and early Iron Age environments: stability or major changes? Marlu Kühn and Annekäthi Heitz Chapter 7: Animal husbandry and hunting activities in the Late Bronze Age Circum-Alpine region Barbara Stopp Chapter 8: Bronze Age trade and exchange through the Alps: influencing cultural variability? Benjamin Jennings Chapter 9: The 3500-year-long lake-dwelling tradition comes to an end: what is to blame? Francesco Menotti Index