Swiss Pile-dwellings

Extract

For about a century it has been assumed that during the Neolithic and part of the Bronze Age the inhabitants of what is now Switzerland built pile-dwellings on the lakes. This interpretation of the finds was put forward, as is well known, by Dr F. Keller, who did so much for Swiss prehistory. His theory was based upon a comparison of the very scanty remains of prehistoric buildings in Switzerland with pile-dwellings that are to be seen today in many parts of the world, erected both on dry land and also on the shores of lakes and of the sea, standing in water. In spite of some opposition, Keller's interpretation appeared so convincing that it aroused great interest and was generally accepted by archaeologists. It was not accidental that Keller had one of his important books on piledwellings published in England. Every museum in the world endeavoured to obtain some specimens of the Swiss finds, and today it is practically impossible to make even an approximately complete list of the older finds from the pile-dwellings.