This documentary takes a journey 6000 years back in time to the late Neolithic and early Bronze ages, which is when the first over-water settlements on stilts, which are described here, were built.
The greatest surprise during filming was how sensationally fresh and unscathed the finds that were uncovered from the mud appeared to be. We know that bodies in bogs are often very well preserved because they are conserved in the absence of air. This is roughly how the section of a log, one of the stilts that has stood under water for thousands of years, looks, as if the tree had just been felled, with no trace of rot or decay. The same applies to all of the wooden household contents that have been uncovered, such as bowls and baskets, as well as the remains of food, materials, ropes and threads. This factor was decisive in UNESCO deciding to place at least some of the approximately 1,000 sites in the Alpine region under protection as world heritage sites.
