Villages on stilts used to be spread out all over the fringes of the Alps in prehistoric times. [NASA / DER SPIEGEL]
Posted on 10/11/2008 1:51:16 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The people of the Mondsee Lake settlement were apparently relatively advanced within this cultural group. They had metallurgical skills, which were rare in Europe. They cleverly searched the mountains for copper deposits, melted the crude ore in clay ovens and made refined, shimmering red weapons out of the metal. In dugout canoes... they paddled along the region's river networks and sold their goods in areas of present-day Switzerland and to their relatives on Lake Constance. Even Otzi the Iceman had an axe, made of so-called Mondsee copper.
At approximately 3200 B.C., says Binsteiner, the master blacksmiths were struck by a "devastating natural disaster." The event began with a muffled cracking noise. Then a cliff 150 meters (492-foot) tall and five kilometers (3.1 miles) long broke off on the southern shore of Mondsee Lake and plunged into the water...
In 1872, the lake dwelling was discovered in shallow water and crudely dug up with long excavator shovels. More than 10,000 artifacts were uncovered. They are among the finest relics of the Neolithic Age. The site was already remarkable for the weapons discovered there, including 595 stone hatchets, cudgels and studded battleaxes, 451 arrowheads along with a dozen hatchets and six daggers made of copper. In the Neolithic Age, these metal tools were such sought-after status symbols that they were even beyond the reach of many a tribal leader... The countless charred fruits found in the mud beneath the settlement are yet another sign that it came to an abrupt end. They include blackened, hard hazelnuts, ears of grain and even pieces of apples, all of them extremely well preserved, because they were quickly deprived of oxygen.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Villages on stilts used to be spread out all over the fringes of the Alps in prehistoric times. [NASA / DER SPIEGEL]
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Nola: A Prehistoric "Pompeii"To date, five Bronze Age villages have been found near Vesuvius. "Obviously there were more," said Stefano de Caro, director of the Naples Archaeological Museum. "This shows how densely settled the area was even in prehistoric times." But de Caro also noted that the Nola site is by far the most complete Bronze Age village yet found: "This is the first time [in Italy] we have found everything together: the dead, dwellings, crafts, customs, food."
by Judith HarrisBronze-Age VeniceThere is evidence of stilt houses and drainage systems, and the settlements' small islets are separated by artificial canals whose edges were strengthened with vertical logs later replaced by squared timbers... The islets, joined by bridges, may have eventually been home to as many as 2,000 people and were enlarged several times over the centuries to accommodate the community's growing population. The remains of wooden huts, stands for dugout canoes, furnishings, as well as evidence of bronze and perhaps amber working, have also been found. The site was abandoned during sixth-century floods and mudslides, and scholars say it is possible that the deserters of Poggiomarino were, in fact, the founders of Pompeii.
by Jarrett A. Lobell
July/August 2002Move Over, Pompeii"Since Nola is only 7.5 miles from the volcano, people probably did not have time to pack before the eruption, and left behind cooking utensils, drinking cups, hunting tools, a hat decorated with wild boars' teeth, and a pot waiting to be fired in the kiln... So far no human remains have been found at Nola -- only several footprints preserved in the mud -- but scholars believe the skeletons of a Bronze Age man and woman discovered nearby about five years ago may be associated with the prehistoric eruption as well."
by Jarrett A. Lobell
Archaeology
March/April 2002
Volume 55 Number 2Bronze Age VillageA prehistoric village has been uncovered near Pompeii, more than 3,500 years after it was buried by Mount Vesuvius as the Roman city was centuries later. Experts called the find at Nola, near Naples, "sensational" and said the site could be the world's best preserved early Bronze Age village. The site is north of both Pompeii and Vesuvius, and suggests that the community was thriving when it was surprised by the eruption. Wooden structures in the village were destroyed by the heat but the mud that filled the buildings created a natural mould of everything they contained. Archaeologists believe that a man and a woman whose skeletons were dug up five years ago had been trying to escape from the village during the eruption.
Thursday 29 November 2001
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It doesn’t matter how often you post this...my German is not that good...
;o]
” A cliff 500’ x 3 miles crashed into the Mondsee”
The original bank crash occured in Switzerland, how appropriate.
Copper Age began earlier than believed, scientists say
Monsters and Critics | Tuesday, October 7, 2008 | Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Posted on 10/11/2008 2:14:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2103332/posts
Hey, my English isn’t even *that* good, I mean well, I mean, whatever...
You tockinamee?
*sheesh*
You post, you needa maybe learn howda post American. Mebbe.
Shows up beautifully in Google Earth..
Are you following me? If so, I can show you “something spectacular”.
Why would I follow you?
Do you have some dark chocolate?
How about milk chocolate?
Chocolate syrup?
Fudge sauce?
...like that.
Ohhhhyah....
That would be me....
:o]
Paint me happy!
(Got champaign?)
Got a bottle of Scotch and 
a room with a spectaculsr view 
I could be persuaded to pop the cork for an alternate worthy occasion...
Hmmm...what city is that?
J&B Rare? No Chevas?
(Here's hoping his sucessor is not nearly as anal retentive...)
Or as stupid.
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