Underwater archaeological investigations by the Pile Dwelling Board of Trustees successfully completed
After a research break of almost 30 years, the pile-dwelling sites "See" in Mondsee and "Litzlberg-Süd" in Attersee were examined in detail.
The aim was to carry out an up-to-date inventory of the condition of these submerged villages from the 4th millennium BC. To this end, a monitoring system was set up under water using modern methods. In this way, dangers can be recognised at an early stage and future measures to protect these UNESCO World Heritage sites can be taken in good time.
A selected team of Austrian and German scientific divers carried out underwater research for over four weeks, marking the entire area of the pile-dwelling settlement with various buoys and then measuring it using state-of-the-art surveying equipment. Sediment drillings and a surface survey were carried out on a selected stretch of 65 metres. In addition, special markers were placed in order to be able to read and assess the erosion behaviour, i.e. possible destructive changes to the lake bed, over the coming years.
The investigations of the flooded Neolithic settlement in Lake Mondsee clearly demonstrated the fantastic preservation of traces of prehistoric life. Nevertheless, future problem areas also emerged, as the settlement is threatened by erosion over a large area. Currents, waves and other factors threaten to erode the protective surface layer more and more. The extent and speed of these damaging developments will be monitored and documented over the next few years.
The situation at the Litzlberg-Süd pile-dwelling station in Lake Attersee is different to that in Lake Mondsee. In the sheltered, shallow bay to the west of the island of Litzlberg, the remains of the people who settled on this shore around 5000 to 6000 years ago can only be found on the surface. However, disturbances caused by buoy stones are particularly striking. The chains of these stones create very large craters, some of which reach 10 metres in diameter and dig 1.5 metres deep into the sediment. Traces of the pile-dwelling settlement, such as piles or pottery, were also found in these buoy craters during the work. In order to protect the unique prehistoric pile dwellings, concepts for the careful use of mooring buoys must therefore be developed.
The cold season is particularly suitable for underwater archaeological investigations because visibility is often very good, there is hardly any underwater vegetation and there are no pleasure craft to endanger safety. However, this year's long winter presented the investigations with extraordinary challenges: Sleet, 3°C water temperature and often only 1-2 metres of visibility underwater made the work of the research divers more difficult. Good partners are therefore very important for the smooth running of the investigations. The current work at the UNESCO World Heritage sites was supported by the company uwi-tec, which carried out the sediment core drilling, the "See" inn, the "Austrian Divers" diving centre in Unterach and the Gebetsroither yacht service.
written on 7 May by Henrik Pohl
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