Greece - Dispilio

The Ecomuseum in Dispilio feautures a ‘replica’ of a prehistoric lakeside settlement, located right besides the archaeological site where true signs of the neolithic era were discovered. The lake settlement - dating back to 5500 BC - was discovered during the dry winter of 1932, which lowered the level of the water in Lake Orestiada and revealed traces of the settlement.

The prehistoric settlement of Dispilio is one of the oldest lake settlements ever discovered in Europe. The settlement’s inhabitants used to live in huts they built on the lake on pile platforms. The 3.000 people, living there, were fishing, hunting, cultivating the earth, stockbreeding, constructing tools and utensils.

Excavations began in 1992 and the museum, consisting of a number of reconstructed stilt houses and a small exhibition room, is open to the public since the year of 2000. In the interior of the ‘houses’ one can see everyday-life objects of the Neolithic people.