Colouring picture – Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps

The “search and find” pictures help children to discover the UNESCO World Heritage properties in Switzerland in a simple way. 

What is a UNESCO World Heritage property?

Imagine that there are special places all over the world that are so important and beautiful that we want to protect them forever. These places are for example old castles, big mountains, ancient cities or beautiful natural areas. Some of them are so old that they were built or created many hundreds or thousands of years ago.

All these places are on a List of UNESCO (an organisation of the United Nations). This list shows that these places are important for the whole world, not just for one country. We can therefore be very proud of the UNESCO World Heritage properties in Switzerland and should take good care of them.

The World Heritage “Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps”

Pile dwellings are buildings that people built a very, very long time ago on long wooden piles in and near the water - presumably because they were better protected from enemies and wild animals and could use the water at the same time. 

The first pile dwellers lived over 5000 years ago. They fished, hunted and worked their fields there. Researchers have found well-preserved artefacts of old tools, pots and even food under water or in the mud, which show how people lived back then. These artefacts can be seen in museums today.

UNESCO has designated the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps as a World Heritage property because they show us a lot about how people lived thousands of years ago and help us to understand the history of our ancestors.

More information and ordering options for the “search and find” book: edu.ourheritage.ch