CH-SG-01
Rapperswil Jona / Hombrechtikon | Feldbach
Short Description
The site is located within the large shallow bay between the Feldbach stream in Zurich and the Kempraten in St. Gallen. It was discovered as early as1864. Its ideal location supported settlements since the early 4th millennium BC. The individual construction periods seem to have "migrated" within the bay over the centuries, as overlapping settlements are rare. This prehistoric mobility is very unusual across Lake Zurich. The Neolithic phases of Cortaillod, Pfyn, Horgen and Corded Ware are documented. The Corded Ware period (around 2520 BC) is probably a single-phase settlement and is relatively well investigated. During the latest Early Bronze Age (1490 B.C.), the settlement appears as a village complex of about 2300 m2 built on a shoal. In the aerial photograph, rows of piles indicate the house layouts and alleys between.
Neolithic / Bronze Age
4th - 2nd millenium B.C.
Lake Zürichsee
405 m.a.s.l.
Size of the site 7,50 ha / approx. 10 soccer pitches
Size of the bufferzone 15,5 ha / appox. 21 soccer pitches
Current Activities
Regular observations since 2003. Due to erosion processes, an anchor prohibition zone was established.
Pile Dwellings up close
The site is visible by aerial view.
Conserved piles of the Early Bronze Age settlement (1490 BC) are exhibited at the Stadtmuseum Rapperswil-Jona and the Historical Ethnological Museum of St. Gallen.
Stadtmuseum Rapperswil-Jona
Herrenberg 30/40
8640 Rapperswil
to the website
Historisches und
Völkerkundemuseum HVM
Museumstrasse 50
CH-9000 St.Gallen
to the website