World Radio Switzerland

Switzerland proposes underwater UNESCO sites

The Federal Office of Culture has unveiled its next dossier bound for a UNESCO heritage panel: the underwater ruins of lakeside communities from the Neolithic and the Bronze ages. The artifacts are known as “pile dwellings.” Houses in these communities were built on “piles,” or stilts, above the water. You can find them under a number of lakes in countries surrounding the Alps. Beat Eberscwhweiler, Zurich’s cantonal archaeologist, told WRS’s Jordan Davis about his first dive into Lake Zurich to examine the remains 25 years ago.

Divers examine “pile dwelling” remains in the canton of Lucerne’s Sempachersee in 2004. (KEYSTONE/Sigi Tischler)