THE PILE DWELLINGS

Boe delimitatrici sito archeologico subacqueo di Bodio Centrale (Foto di Sabrina Luglietti)

AN UNDERWATER PART OF OUR HUMAN HERITAGE

Protected by the waters of the lakes, the pile dwellings preserve an extraordinary archaeological and cultural record, offering a window onto past civilisations from the Neolithic to the Iron Age (5300-500 BC). Thanks to the agreement signed in June 2011, the transnational and serial site “Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps” was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. The site comprises 111 pile dwellings spread across Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.

The Sites of the Varese area

Mappa dei siti palafitticoli
Icona siti UNESCO

SITI UNESCO

1 Isolino Virginia
5 Palafitta di Bodio Centrale
11 Palafitta del Sabbione

Icona siti associati

SITI ASSOCIATI

3. Palafitta Ponti
4. Palafitta Desor Maresco
6 Palafitta Gaggio Keller

Icona siti archeologici

SITI ARCHEOLOGICI

2 Palude Brabbia - 7 Palafitta Ranchet - 8 Palafitta Stoppani 9 Torbiera di Biandronno - 10 Palafitta dell’Occhio 12 Palafitta di Pozzolo - 13 Palafitta delle Pioppette

Nineteen of these are in Italy, of which 10 are in Lombardy and, of those, 3 are in the province of Varese: the Virginia islet, the Bodio Centrale (or “delle Monete”) pile dwelling and the Sabbione di Cadrezzate pile dwelling. Along with the sites on the list, UNESCO has also recognised a series of “associate sites”, archaeological complexes of notable cultural relevance that, at the time of creating the list in 2011, did not satisfy the full requirements for inclusion. On Lake Varese the “associate sites” are Gaggio Keller, the Desor (or Maresco) pile dwelling and the Ponti (or Cazzago di Cazzago Brabbia) pile dwelling.

PILES THROUGH TIME

Linea del tempo
Ambiente palafitticolo

THE LAKE VARESE PILE DWELLINGS

After the last glaciation the Varese area underwent a gradual evolution until, towards the 6th millennium BC, the arrival of an optimal climatic period allowed the establishment of the first small communities along the shores of Lake Varese. During the Middle and Late Neolithic and the Copper Age the population grew and spread into the Bodio, Bardello, Biandronno, Gavirate and Cazzago Brabbia areas. Between the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (approximately 1800-1500 BC) we see the period of maximal development, characterised by an early sort of urban organisation. The settlements, called “palafitte” (today translated as pile dwellings) by early scholars, were positioned along the lake shore with their wood and straw huts built on plank decks placed either directly on the ground or raised on numerous piles and joined together by walkways.
The economic activities of these villages were several: animal husbandry, agriculture, hunting and fishing. Goats, sheep and cattle were raised for food and, together with various types of wheat and barley (which were stored in large clay jars), formed the main food sources. The economic picture is rounded out with the hunting of birds, deer and wild boar, together with fishing.
Alongside the economic activities associated with subsistence there were numerous other tasks such as weaving, which produced woollen and linen garments using spindle whorls and vertical looms. The knapping of flint extracted in the area was fundamental to the production of arrowheads, sickles, scrapers, and blades to be mounted on wood, bone or horn handles: the creation of tools for use in agriculture, hunting, fishing and the other productive activities of the village.
The advent of copper - and then, later, bronze - allowed the production of daggers, spearheads, pins, bracelets, awls and fish hooks. The production of bronze axes was fundamental to the construction and maintenance of the village piles, platforms and huts. Even today one can see axe marks on the piles preserved at the bottom of the lake.
There was a dense trade network linking the various villages, involving a continuous exchange of goods and technologies. Such trade was seen along the waterways and lakes of the entire sub-Alpine area.
Between the 14th and 13th centuries BC one sees a gradual and, for now, little-documented, abandonment of the lake dwelling area and, towards the end of the Late Bronze Age, the villages had been abandoned and forgotten.