Archaeological divers recovered a prehistoric wooden construction from the water at the outlet of the Attersee in the past few weeks. It may have belonged to the pile dwelling settlement that existed there, near the present-day Seewalchen shipping pier. This pile dwelling settlement is one of the largest known in Austria.
However, the purpose of the wooden construction in the Neolithic Age is still a mystery. It is likely to be wood that is dovetailed into one another.
A permit from the Federal Monuments Office was required to salvage the remains of wood. To protect the prehistoric remains from weathering, they are not usually taken out of the water. In this case, however, it was an emergency rescue, as the board of trustees announced yesterday.
Underwater archaeologists use monitoring to constantly monitor erosion on the lake bed. “The erosion is particularly severe at the jetty in front of Seewalchen,” says underwater archaeologist Henrik Pohl. “This also uncovered the timbers, which have now been saved to protect them from further destruction.”
Over the past millennia, there have been more than 30 pile-dwelling villages on Lake Attersee in various settlement phases. Contrary to popular belief, only a few of them were in the water, most probably on the beach slab, which was flooded at high tide. However, due to a general rise in water levels, they all disappeared under water, which is where archaeologists are now finding the remains.
Source: Nachrichten
