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The lake shore with the pile dwelling site © E20 Progetti Biella

  Viverone (BI) / Azeglio (TO)  |     VI.1-Emissario

Short Description

The foundation of the village was comprised of nearly five thousand piles, driven into the sandy bed of the lake, at about two meters in depth. The analysis of these diments that is currently underway will make it possible tounderstand, whether the huts were built in the water,or on land. The village was circular in plan, with a diameter of seventy meters .From the alignment of the piles, it is possible to recognise the floor plans of huts and pens, perhaps where animals were kept. The bronze objects found on the bed of the lakewere in clusters, which makes it possible to reconstruct, how the women dressed and how the warriors were armed.

 

Bronze Age

Middle Bronze Age 1450 - 1400 B.C.

Lago di Viverone

230 m.a.s.l.

Size of the site 5,86 ha / appiox. 8 soccer pitches

Size of the bufferzone 852,77 ha / approx. 1194 soccer pitches

Special Features & Highlights

It is a typical, as well as a unique example, of a pile-dwelling settlement of a cultural group, important for the development of architecture, individual buildings and habitats. It is an important site for the understanding of the relationships between northern Italy and central Europe.

Dagger, axe and razor, Middle Bronze Age © MiBACT Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la Città Metropolitana di Torino

Current Activities

Monitoring of lake pollution. Prohibition of navigation on the site

 

Pile Dwellings up close

The site cannot be visited. It can be approached with non-motor boats. An installation is mounted on the opposite bank, near the town of Viverone.

Musei Reali – Museo di Antichità,
piazzetta Reale 1,
Torino,
to the website

Museo Civico “P.A.Garda”,
piazza Ottinetti,
Ivrea,
to the website

Museo del Territorio Biellese,
via Quintino Sella 54/b,
Biella,
to the website

Comune di Viverone - Centro di documentazione del Lago di Viverone,
via Umberto I 107,
Viverone,
to the website