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| Arbon-Bleiche | |
|---|---|
| Name | Arbon-Bleiche |
| Map type | Switzerland |
| Location | Arbon, Thurgau |
| Region | Lake Constance |
| Type | Wetland settlement |
| Built | Neolithic to Bronze Age |
| Epochs | Neolithic |
| Cultures | Pfyn, Horgen |
| Excavations | 20th century |
| Condition | Preserved |
| Public access | Limited |
Arbon-Bleiche is a prehistoric lakeside settlement located near Arbon in the canton of Thurgau on Lake Constance, notable for waterlogged preservation of organic materials and evidence of Late Neolithic occupation associated with the Pfyn and Horgen cultural groups. The site has produced well-preserved timber architecture, textiles, and wooden artifacts that have informed studies of prehistoric Alpine cultures, dendrochronology, and prehistoric craft production. Excavations have linked the site to broader networks across the Alpine foreland, connecting material traditions to contemporaneous sites on the Swiss Plateau, Upper Rhine, and southern Germany.
Arbon-Bleiche was occupied during the Late Neolithic, with chronological ties to the Pfyn culture and Horgen culture as identified in comparative studies with sites such as Pfyn-Breitenloo, Zurich-Parkhaus Opéra, La Tène, Véraza, and Arbon. Dendrochronological sequences from Arbon-Bleiche have been compared to chronologies established at Bülach, Unteruhldingen, Elsenberg, Meilen, and Horgen (archaeological site) to refine regional chronologies and synchronize occupations with climatic events recognized at Holocene climatic optimum intervals and oscillations documented in cores from Lake Constance and Lake Zurich. Artefactual parallels link Arbon-Bleiche to exchange networks evidenced at Pfäffikon, Rapperswil-Jona, Kesswil, and sites along the Upper Rhine, implicating interactions with communities represented at Brigantium, Feldkirch, and Konstanz.
The site lies on the littoral zone of Lake Constance (Bodensee) within the modern canton of Thurgau near the town of Arbon, situated on a peat-rich promontory that favored anaerobic preservation comparable to deposits at Horgen and Pfyn-Breitenloo. Local palaeoenvironmental reconstructions draw on pollen sequences correlated with cores from Lake Constance, Lake Constance (Untersee), and nearby bogs like Wurzacher Ried to demonstrate shifts in woodland taxa such as Fagus sylvatica and Quercus robur and anthropogenic clearance associated with cereal cultivation similar to models from Neolithic Europe wetland settlements at Pile dwellings around the Alps. Hydrological changes tied to fluctuations in the Rhine (river) catchment and Alpine meltwater regimes influenced site formation processes and contemporaneous settlements along the Swiss Plateau and Allgäu.
Excavations uncovered substantial wooden structures, including posts and plank revetments, echoing construction techniques seen at Unteruhldingen pile dwellings and Pfäffikon waterlogged sites; these finds complemented organic assemblages such as woven textiles parallel to those from Hallstatt salt-mines and perishable collections from Oberbauenstock and La Draga. Faunal evidence aligns with husbandry patterns known from Neolithic Switzerland sites like Torgau, Egolzwil, and Sutz-Lattrigen, while botanical macroremains correlate with agrarian assemblages at Arbon, Thayngen, and Rheinfelden. Comparative lithic and ceramic typologies relate Arbon-Bleiche to material sequences at Cortaillod, Horgener culture, Pfaffenhofen, and late Neolithic contexts documented at Unteruhldingen-Museumsdorf.
Material culture includes wooden tools, agricultural implements, loom weights, and woven textiles demonstrating technologies comparable to those from Hallstatt, La Tène, Corded Ware culture, and Linear Pottery culture continuities, though temporally adjusted to Late Neolithic Pfyn/Horgen contexts. Ceramic assemblages show affinities with vessels from Pfyn-Breitenloo and decorative conventions paralleling finds from Horgen (archaeological site), Cortaillod, and settlements on the Upper Rhine. Organic artifacts—such as canoe fragments, wooden bowls, and net fragments—provide technological analogues to craftsmen documented at Unteruhldingen and wetland sites around Lake Zurich, while bone tools and antler implements mirror industries described at La Tène and Hallstatt workrooms.
Although primary inhumations are less prominent than in nearby necropolises like La Tène or Hallstatt, the mortuary evidence from Arbon-Bleiche—disarticulated human remains, isolated cranial finds, and contextual deposits—has been analyzed in the context of regional funerary variability seen at Goms, Wetzikon, Stansstad, and cemeteries associated with the Pfyn and Horgen cultural horizons. Social inferences draw on settlement layout and craft specialization parallels with social organization models developed from investigations at Sutz-Lattrigen, Egolzwil, Cortaillod, and later hierarchical expressions at Hallstatt and La Tène to propose community size, craft exchange, and seasonal activities.
Systematic investigations began in the 20th century with interventions by cantonal authorities and university teams paralleling research programs at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich researchers and fieldwork traditions seen at Unteruhldingen and Pfyn-Breitenloo. Excavation campaigns employed dendrochronology, archaeobotany, and zooarchaeology methods refined in projects at Lake Zurich and Lake Constance palaeoecological initiatives, while conservation practices for waterlogged organics were informed by protocols developed at Hallstatt and conservation laboratories in Zurich and Bern. Ongoing comparative studies link Arbon-Bleiche data sets with regional syntheses coordinated by institutions such as the Swiss National Museum, Cantonal Archaeological Service of Thurgau, and academic programs at University of Zurich and University of Bern.
Category:Archaeological sites in Switzerland