Reconstructed dwellings of the Stone and Bronze Age at the Lake Dwelling Museum Unteruhldingen at Lake Constance
What is worth preserving at the pile dwellings?
The settlements found under water mark the origin of our culture. Their outstanding state of conservation under air free conditions constitutes an immense reservoir for future debates in science and the pile dwelling museums. UNESCO inscribed nine of more than 200 settlements at the German shores at Lake Constance as World Heritage Sites. Another four sites at the Lake Constance shores in Switzerland, six in Upper Swabia, and three in Bavaria were also selected. Overall, 111 pile dwelling sites out of 1000 known villages were honored with the designation “World Heritance Site”. Hidden in these sites are invaluable information about the prehistoric environment and landscape history and the knowledge about life thousands of years ago. This knowledge, buried in the muddy ground of the lake, must be preserved for future generations. Looking at the scientific significance, the pile dwellings are figurally speaking, the pyramids of Southern Germany, Switzerland, and all of the Alpine foothills. We are obligated to protect this knowledge and to conserve it as a magnificent heritage of humanity.
How can we preserve this heritage and how can we further develop it?
The protection of the excavation site and the surrounding landscape guarantee that even future generations can draw information from these sunken villages. The documentation and research of those sites, those already known and those constantly emerging will ensure improved methods in the museums for imparting knowledge. According to the standards of the International Council of Museums - ICOM, toward the public, the research, the collecting of evidence, the storing of information carriers, and the exhibiting of knowledge must be in the forefront of our responsibilities. It is not without reason, that UNESCO specifies the objective that the education of the population is to be placed above the protected objects into the center of all efforts. Only if people know what this heritage is all about, sustainable protection with the future in mind will be possible. The pile dwellings in Unteruhldingen, which in their original form are submerged in the water, are World Heritage made visible. They visualize and explain the archive of pile dwellings at Lake Constance and in the neighboring regions during 4000 – 800 BC resting on the bottom of the lake. The inter cultural communication and the deliberations on networking between research and public relations work will allow for a further development of the knowledge about these sunken villages. 150 years archeological research at Lake Constance and 90 years museums activities in Unteruhldingen, have received great attention and achieved great progress for the cultural history in our region Together the public, the universities, the monument preservation and the museums, will pursue the goal to develop better methods to preserve and gain knowledge about our past . Not only archeologists, but also the public is obligated toward this inheritance. Within the scope of the question „How did they live and what conclusions can be drawn?“ the fascinating subject pile dwellings will develop way into the future.