Early history of Switzerland

The early history of Switzerland begins with the earliest settlements up to the beginning of Habsburg rule, which in 1291 gave rise to the independence movement in the central cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden and the Late Medieval growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

Archeological evidence from the Wildkirchli cave in Appenzell suggests that hunter-gatherers settled in the lowlands north of the Alps in the Upper Paleolithic, in Robenhausen settlements dated back to around 8000 BC were found.

In the Neolithic period, the area was relatively densely populated, as is attested to by the many archeological findings from that period. Remains of pile dwellings have been found in the shallow areas of many lakes. The Swiss plateau was dominated by the Linear Pottery culture from the 5th millennium BC; it lay on the south-western outskirts of the Corded Ware horizon in the 3rd millennium BC, evolving into the early Bronze Age Beaker culture. Artifacts dated to the 5th millennium BC were discovered at the Schnidejoch in 2003 to 2005.

The first Indo-European settlement likely dates to the 2nd millennium, at the latest in the form of the Urnfield culture from c. 1300 BC.

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