🏛️ Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps – Lac de Chalain, rive occidentale
UNESCO World Heritage Site
📋 Fast Facts
- UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2011
- Neolithic and Bronze Age stilt-house settlements (c. 5000–500 BCE)
- Exceptionally preserved organic materials including wood, textiles, and plant remains
- Located on the western shore of Lake Chalain, Jura region, eastern France
The Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps at Lac de Chalain represent one of Europe's most significant archaeological sites for understanding early human settlement in wetland environments. The site contains the submerged and waterlogged remains of Neolithic and Bronze Age communities that constructed their homes on wooden piles driven into the lakebed. The anaerobic conditions of the lake have created an exceptional preservation environment, maintaining organic materials that normally ...