Late Neolithic economy at lakeside settlements in Western Switzerland

In this paper we present a comparison of animal bone compositions at lakeside settlements of Western Switzerland. In the last few years new studies of animal bone material from sites on the Lake of Neuchâtel and the Lake of Bienne have greatly broadened our knowledge of the late Neolithic period, poorly known until now. Besides a chronological comparison, we examine the bone compositions of the sites around these two lakes according to topographie criteria. While the differences found in domestic and wild animal ratios are probably due to the different expanses of hunting grounds around the two lakes, the significant factor influencing the proportion of the domestic animal species is the topographical location of the settlements (flat or steep lakeside setting). Lakeside settlements with flatter hinterland normally show a greater proportion of cattle than sites located on the steep sides of the lakes, where often larger proportions of domestic pig were found.