The Laténium is an archeology museum located in Hauterive, a suburb of

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

, Switzerland. Its name refers to the famous nearby site of La Tène which gave its name to the Second European Iron age. The Laténium is composed of a park and a museum building which also harbours the archaeological section of the Heritage Offices of the State of Neuchâtel, as well as the chair of prehistory of the University of Neuchâtel. The museum and its park are built on what used to be three archaeological sites that were excavated during the construction of the A5 motorway. Theses sites date from the

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

. The park features

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

s and

glacial erratic A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock (geology), rock differing from the type of country rock (geology), rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by gla ...

s, reconstitutions of prehistoric and antique devices (a La Tène house, a Gallo-Roman ship and a Celtic bridge, notably), and modern works of art. The museum displays the Bevaix boat, a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

ship found in

Bevaix Bevaix is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Boudry (district), Boudry in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Bev ...

. Items from periods comprised between the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

are on display, including the remains of a

Magdalenian Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; ) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years before present. It is named after the type site of Abri de la Madeleine, a ro ...

hunting camp.

History

The Laténium is the biggest archaeological museum in Switzerland. The permanent exhibition features around 3000 objects coming from excavations mostly realised in the Canton of Neuchâtel. These objects are picked from the 525000 pieces that form the museum's collections and span 50'000 years of Europe's past.

Archaeology in Neuchâtel during the 19th and 20th century

During the second half of the 19th century, many lake dwellings were found on the banks of lakes Neuchâtel, Bienne and Morat during a period dubbed "lake dwellings fever" (fièvre lacustre in french). The Jura waters correction lowered lake Neuchâtel height by 2.7 m which resulted in dozens of lake dwellings sites exiting from the waters. This made access to the artifacts far easier. Later, the construction of the A5 motorway (from

Yverdon-les-Bains Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Ancient Rome, Roman era) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Jura-North Vaudois District, Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It ...

Solothurn Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The town is ...

) alongside the north bank of Lake Neuchâtel led to the discovery of about 500'000 artifacts, many of them got included into the museum's collections.

Creation

The concretisation of the idea of a new museum entirely dedicated to archaeology in the canton took 22 years, from the first motion before the

Grand Council of Neuchâtel The Grand Council of Neuchâtel () is the legislature of the canton of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland. Neuchâtel, styled as a Republic and Canton (''République et Canton''), has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with me ...

to the inauguration of the museum in 2001. It also took the people of the

Canton of Neuchâtel The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (; ; ; ) is a mostly French-speaking canton in western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (or 23.4%) were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel. History County of Neuchâtel ...

approval, the projects was accepted with 66% of the votes on June 9, 1996.

Awards

In 2003, the Laténium received the European Museum of the Year Award awarded by the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

the for its contribution for a better understanding of the european cultural heritage. The Laténium was the first swiss museum to receive the award. In 2018, it received the Medal for archaeological mediation of the

International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. The Laténium's commitment to the popularisation of archaeology and for the social valorisation of the protection of the cultural heritage got the museum the award.
Image:Latenium Celtic bridge mg 2220.jpg, Reconstitution of a Celtic bridge Image:Latenium Gallo-Roman ship mg 2222.jpg, Experimental reconstitution of a Gallo-Roman ship Image:Latenium mg 2207.jpg, Reconstitution of a fisher's house with pirogue Image:Latenium mg 2215.jpg, The Laténium building; the bassin of the foreground represents the level of the lake 15 000 years ago, with the

piloti Pilotis, or piers, are supports such as columns, pillars, or stilts that lift a building above ground or water. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Scandinavia using wood, and in e ...

s of the

References

External links