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In Switzerland, fish played a substantial role in people's diets both in medieval times and in the early modern period. In this paper, we present an overview of ichthyoarchaeological data from 20 years of research, mainly from the northern and eastern regions of Switzerland. The integration of results of faunal analyses from 20 archaeological sites, and the study of historical sources provided information on different modes of fish exploitation during these periods. This study shows that the fish remains from archaeological sites correspond with the descriptions in the written records: Both sources point to local fisheries within Swiss freshwater systems. These fisheries were strongly regulated and often selective. Large freshwater fish of high quality was mainly caught by professional fishermen and eaten by the aristocratic and clerical classes, whereas small or young specimens were caught by all social classes even though their catch was strongly restricted. Furthermore, both sources provide evidence for an inland freshwater fish trade of selected species and for the import of herring and suggest the practice of different freshwater fish cultivation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article brings together in a comprehensive way, and for the first time, on- and off-site palaeoenvironmental data from the area of the Central European lake dwellings (a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site since 2011). The types of data considered are as follows: high-resolution off-site pollen cores, including micro-charcoal counts, and on-site data, including botanical macro- and micro-remains, hand-collected animal bones, remains of microfauna, and data on woodland management (dendrotypology). The period considered is the late Neolithic (c. 4300–2400 cal. BC). For this period, especially for its earlier phases, discussions of land-use patterns are contradictory. Based on off-site data, slash-and-burn – as known from tropical regions – is thought to be the only possible way to cultivate the land. On-site data however show a completely different picture: all indications point to the permanent cultivation of cereals (Triticum spp., Hordeum vulgare), pea (Pisum sativum), flax (Linum usitatissimum) and opium-poppy (Papaver somniferum). Cycles of landscape use are traceable, including coppicing and moving around the landscape with animal herds. Archaeobiological studies further indicate also that hunting and gathering were an important component and that the landscape was manipulated accordingly. Late Neolithic land-use systems also included the use of fire as a tool for opening up the landscape. Here we argue that bringing together all the types of palaeoenvironmental proxies in an integrative way allows us to draw a more comprehensive and reliable picture of the land-use systems in the late Neolithic than had been reconstructed previously largely on the basis of off-site data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]