Wetzikon-Robenhausen
Wetzikon-Robenhausen is a prehistoric settlement on the Pfäffikersee in the area of the district Robenhausen of the municipality of Wetzikon in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland . The site is part of the lakeside settlements in the Alpine region (UNESCO World Heritage Site) .
Location and findings
The area at the southern end of the Pfäffikersee has been populated for over 10,000 years. During the Mesolithic period , hunters and gatherers set up camp sites at various locations on the edge of the lake, and during the Neolithic period , various small, permanently inhabited settlements emerged near the shore.
The remains of the settlement in the district of Robenhausen were discovered in 1858 by Jakob Messikommer in the nature-protected moorland on the southern bank of the Pfäffikersee in the municipality of Wetzikon. In his excavation reports, Messikomer recorded the discovery of a dugout canoe of a peculiar shape , which he assigned, along with other finds, to the equipment of a hunter . In his excavations he also distinguished two layers of finds separated by a layer of peat , whereby Messikomer concluded from the arrangement of the pile remains that the settlement was being rebuilt. Other individual finds include longbows, axes made of stone and staghorn as well as ceramics. Although Messikomer did not come across any metal finds, 58 different animal species were found among the organic finds. One of several subsequent excavations revealed the remains of tissues, braids and seeds as well as evidence of the production of butter. Carved wooden knife, a trowel and scoops, a yoke of hazel, flail, remains of a garment and one from raffia braided mat are further individual finds.
The age of a dugout canoe uncovered in Robenhauser Ried in 1943 has not been established. There are numerous individual finds from the Bronze Age, two of which are remarkable.
The settlement area is characterized by the excellent preservation of organic remains and evidence of textile production, including textiles and parts of a Neolithic loom.
A board is listed as an unusual find, which is probably a door associated with the Pfyn culture .
Excavations on the Tösstalstrasse provided evidence of a settlement of the bell-cup culture . With the exception of the individual finds mentioned at the beginning, the extensive and protected area has so far been little researched archaeologically in its entire extent.
UNESCO World Heritage Site and Cultural Property of National Importance
The settlement remains are among the 111 sites with the greatest scientific potential that were included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites on June 27, 2011 as part of the lakeside settlements in the Alpine region .
In the Swiss inventory of cultural goods of national importance , the wetland settlement is listed as class A objects.
Web links
- Underwater archeology of the city of Zurich: sites
- Swiss National Museum : special exhibition “The pile dwellers”, images of found objects
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b UNESCO World Heritage Center website (June 27, 2011), press release Six new sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List , accessed on March 11, 2013
- ↑ a b Website Foundation for Archeology in the Canton of Zurich , accessed on March 11, 2013
- ^ Robenhausen stilt house, report by Messikomer , communications from the Antiquarian Society in Zurich .
- ↑ a b Website palafittes.org: Swiss sites in the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Wetzikon-Robenhausen (CH-ZH-08) ( Memento of the original from May 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 11, 2013
- ↑ A-Objects ZH 2018 . Swiss inventory of cultural assets of national importance. In: babs.admin.ch / kulturgueterschutz.ch. Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP - Department of Cultural Property Protection, January 1, 2018, accessed on March 11, 2013 (PDF; 163 kB, 32 p., Updated annually, no changes for 2018).
