Wetland settlements are settlements in permanently or intermittently damp areas, e.g., by lake shores and in marshlands.
Motivation Common explanations include defense (see "Lake fortress"), to free up dry land for cultivation, and easy access to transport routes or to different biotopes for exploitation.Anne Crone, Aidan O'Sullivan, Graeme Cavers, Francesco Menotti, "WETLAND SETTLEMENT; UNDERSTANDING THE MOTIVATION BEHIND LIVING OUT ON THE WATER", In: 21ST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS, GLASGOW, 2015Newly Excavated Maya Wetland Settlement Shows the Civilization’s Adaptation to Changing Climate Wetlands offered, in addition to hunting and fishing, conditions for cattle and small scale cultivation of different crops.
Construction In terms of foundations, dwellings in such settlements can be classified in two types. In fen-type wetlands with small fluctuation of water level, e.g., on the shores of small lakes, houses were built without foundation or on simple foundations, such as clay floors or log floors. Another type is a stilt house, a structure elevated on stilts above the ground or water body.
See also Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen, German stilthouse museum
References
Further reading Prehistoric Wetland Settlements of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast Belarusian Wetland Settlements in Prehistory Wetland Settlements of the Baltic A PREHISTORIC PERSPECTIVE Wetland Settlements in Prehistoric Sweden Wetland Archaeology and Beyond: Theory and Practice, a review of the Francesco Menotti's book Journal of Wetland Archaeology