CH-NE-04
Bevaix, | L'Abbaye 2
Short Description
The L'Abbaye 2 station is located in Bevaix Bay, on a vast coastal terrace, well protected to the east by La Pointe du Grain. Discovered in the mid-19th century, this station is submerged in its downstream section and is now partially eroded. The landward half is largely covered by a reed bed. Observed over a length of 150 metres and a width of 80 metres, it would have been connected to the shore by a path or footbridge, built to the east of a nearby Neolithic site. The first dendrochronological dating obtained from 11 piles suggests that the village was occupied for a long period during the Late Bronze Age, from 1057 to 878 BCE. Some 400 objects from this period have been collected there, including bronze weapons and jewellery, pottery fragments, ceramic torch holders and glass beads.
Special Features & Highlights
The final Bronze Age village of Abbaye 2 was occupied for nearly two centuries, while smaller villages in Bevaix Bay, which were slightly more recent but from the same period, were inhabited for shorter periods. The latter may have been ‘satellite’ settlements linked to the ‘pioneer’ village established in the centre of the bay.
Pile Dwellings up close
The objects from the municipality of Bevaix is kept at the Laténium.
Laténium, parc et musée d’archéologie
Espace Paul Vouga
2068 Hauterive
+41 32 889 69 10
latenium@ne.ch
au site web
Bronze Age
Late Bronze Age
Lake Neuchâtel
428 m.a.s.l.
Size of the site:
1,04 ha / approx. 1-2 soccer pitches
Size of the bufferzone:
5,01 ha / approx. 7 soccer pitches
