Prehistory to Christianity

Prehistory to Christianity

Pre-historic petroglyphs from Valcamonica, Italy
About 10,000 years ago, when the ice melted after the Würm glaciation, late Palaeolithic communities were established along the lake shores and in cave sy

stems. Evidence of human habitation has been found in caves near Vercors, close to Grenoble; in Austria the Mondsee culture shows evidence of houses built on piles to keep them dry. Standing stones have been found in Alpine areas of France and Italy. The Rock Drawin

gs in Valcamonica are more than 5000 years old; more than 200,000 drawings and etchings have been identified at the site.[91]

In 1991 a mummy of a neolithic body, known as Ötzi the Iceman, was discovered by hikers on the Similaun glacier. His clothing and gear indicate that he lived in an alpine farming community, while the location and manner of his death – an arrowhead was discovered in his shou

lder – suggests he was travelling from one place to another.[92] Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of Ötzi, has shown that he belongs to the K1 subclade which cannot be categorized into any of the three modern branches of that subclade. The new subclade has provisionally been named K1ö for Ötzi.[93]