ABSTRACT
At the southern foot of the Jura mountains, Lake Neuchatel extends from Yverdon to La Tene. The water flows in a northerly direction into Lake Bienne and from there into the Aar River, a tributary of the Rhine. The development of archaeological excavation methods was just beginning when, in 1920, Paul Vouga produced a genuine stratigraphic record of the Neolithic site of Auvernier. Archaeological sites in the region have been damaged by digging, filling-in, and erosion. Both the rerouting of the waters of the Jura (1962–1970) and the excavations along the planned highway routes provided archaeologists with the technical and financial means to enhance their knowledge of the prehistoric and protohistoric habitation of this vast region. The laboratory of the Neuchatel Museum of Archaeology, created in 1975 with the aid of the National Swiss Foundation for Scientific Research, has been able to establish, almost to year, the stages of construction of the Neolithic and Bronze Age villages.
