Lac de Chalain et ses villages sur pilotis

Fontenu

Between Doucier and Fontenu, in the Jura, the lac de Chalain keeps under its shores villages 5,000 years old. In 1904 a sudden lowering of the water level, decided on in order to produce electricity, laid bare thousands of wooden piles and objects of daily life. Excavations carried out from 1986 to 2002 drew up the list of 32 pile-dwelling villages on the west shore. Most date from 3200 to 2600 BC, but the whole site runs from 3700 to 800 BC, from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The water preserved the woods: houses, granaries, palisades, walkways, but also textiles, tableware, a dugout canoe and an ash sledge with its oak yoke. Archaeologists dated the buildings by tree rings (dendrochronology), cross-checking with the study of seeds and pollen. The villages were abandoned about 5,000 years ago. In 2011 Chalain and the neighbouring lake of Clairvaux were inscribed by UNESCO with other prehistoric pile-dwelling sites around the Alps. No local legend was found: it is a history that the water has kept, not a belief.

Getting there: The lake is accessible along its edge (beaches and campsites, notably at Doucier and Fontenu); the villages are under water or under the banks and cannot be seen. The reconstructed experimental houses mentioned by the Ministry were not located nor were their visiting conditions verified. Coordinates: Commons category ‘Lac de Chalain’ (centre of the lake).

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound