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Houses and Villages
In Ötzi’s day people in central Europe had already been living in fixed dwellings and more or less permanent settlements for several thousand years.
In the Alpine region in the third and fourth centuries BC settlements were usually built on hilltops (Isera, Italy) to afford better protection from attacks. At the edges of the main valleys settlements were also located on scree slopes (Margreid, Italy), the floors of the valleys themselves being too marshy. The wooden houses on stone foundations were occupied over several generations.
At the northern and southern Alpine lakes, houses were built on piles above the water level or where the ground was soggy. Wooden posts driven into the earth supported platforms, on which wooden houses were built. Each house had its own hearth. At the Arbon Bleiche 3 village in Switzerland at least 27 pile-built houses were constructed over a 15-year period. In 3370 BC the village was consumed by fire and was never rebuilt.
