Early History of Switzerland - Prehistory

Prehistory

Archeological evidence from the Wildkirchli cave in Appenzell suggests that hunter-gatherers settled in the lowlands north of the Alps by the late Paleolithic. In the Neolithic period, the area was relatively densely populated, as is attested to by the many archeological findings from that period. Remains of pile dwellings have been found in the shallow areas of many lakes.

In Neolithic Europe, the Swiss plateau was dominated by the Linear Pottery culture from the 5th millennium BC; it lay on the south-western outskirts of the Corded Ware horizon in the 3rd millennium BC, evolving into the early Bronze Age Beaker culture. Artefacts dated to the 5th millennium BC were discovered at the Schnidejoch in 2003 to 2005. The first Indo-European settlement likely dates to the 2nd millennium, at the latest in the form of the Urnfield culture from c. 1300 BC. The Swiss plateau lay in the western part of the pre- or proto-Celtic Halstatt culture)., evolving into the Celtic La Tène culture from the 5th century BC. In the 1st century BC (late La Tène), the Swiss plateau was occupied by the Helvetii in the west and by the Vindelici in the east, while the Alpine parts of eastern Switzerland were inhabited by the Raetians.