Erosion and Archaeological Heritage Protection in Lake Constance and Lake Zurich: The Interreg IV Project ‘Erosion und Denkmalschutz am Bodensee und Zürichsee’

Abstract

Lake Constance and Lake Zürich contain important archaeological cultural assets. Above all the so-called pile dwellings of the fifth to the first millennium bc are widespread in the shallow water areas of the lakes, and in 2011 a total of twenty of these sites were included into the inscription of ‘Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps’ on the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, construction in harbours and along the lakeshore, shipping traffic, and recreational facilities as well as erosion processes all considerably endanger the stability of the underwater cultural assets. Since the 1980s the authorities concerned with the preservation of archaeological heritage in Baden-Württemberg and the cantons of Thurgau and Zürich have developed working techniques for the preservation of these special underwater cultural assets. Numerous questions about the causes of erosion, the technical installation and the effectivity of protective measures against erosion and the ecological tolerance of such measures, however, remain open.

At this point the Interreg IV project ‘Erosion and Archaeological Heritage Protection on Lake Constance and Lake Zürich’, started in conjunction with various institutes concerned with lake research. Within the framework of this project the technical methods of mapping and surveillance of the site as a basis of an archaeological monitoring were refined and extended and measures for the integration of protection against erosion were intensified and checked. From the natural scientific point of view, the essential topics for a long-term reduction of anthropogenic-increased erosion are a reduction of ship-induced waves.

Keywords:

• pile-dwelling sites
• erosion
• protective installations
• archaeological monitoring
• erosion markers

Paper translated by Jamie McIntosh.

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Notes on contributors

Marion Heumüller

Marion Heumüller studied Prehistory at Freiburg and Tübingen Universities. Her MA thesis on ‘Trackways of the Federsee Wetlands’ and a doctoral thesis on ‘Jewellery of the Late Neolithic Lake Dwelling Hornstaad-Hörnle IA’ were concerned with the themes of wetland and underwater archaeology. Since 1999 she has been a co-worker on various projects for the Baden-Württemberg State Office for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments/Regional Council Stuttgart.

Correspondence to: Dr Marion Heumüller, Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Fachbereich Feuchtbodenarchäologie, Fischersteig 9, 78343 Gaienhofen-Hemmenhofen, Germany. Email: [email protected]