Amazonian urbanism
Introduction
The stilts are homes where the pillars are simple stakes of houses over the water. They are normally built on bodies of calm water such as lakes, lagoons and pipes "Caño (canal)") (irregular and slow courses through which the rivers and lagoons of the low regions drain), although they are also built on dry land or on the seashore, as is the case in some areas of Chile and can form large urban groups built by means of pilotis, such as Venice, Italy.
The word derives from the Italian palafitta (driven sticks). In 2002, an important discovery at the mouth of the Sarno River revealed that in the port area of Pompeii there were stilt houses based on a system of canals, which also suggest a certain similarity. The stilt houses are considered the oldest ecological houses in America.[1].
History of the stilt houses
There is archaeological evidence that stilt construction was used in prehistoric Europe in alpine areas and in areas of what is now France, Slovenia, Scotland, Lithuania and Latvia generally around lakes or wetlands. Among the possible reasons for the construction of stilt houses, it is believed that they served against predators and hostile neighbors.
In Europe, Neolithic buildings have been found that covered up to half a hectare. During the Neolithic, the Copper Age and the Bronze Age, stilt settlements were common in the Alpine and Pianura Padana (Earthmara Culture) regions. to the Irish and Scottish crannogs, but today it seems clear that most of the settlements were located on the banks of the lakes and were only flooded later.[3] Houses rebuilt on stilts can be seen in open-air museums such as the Stilt Museum in Unteruhldingen or in Zurich (Pfahlbauland).
In June 2011, the prehistoric stilt houses of six Alpine states (Prehistoric Stilt Sites of the Alps) were designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Herodotus described in his Histories "Histories (Herodotus)") the dwellings of the 'lake-dwellers' in Paeonia and how they were built.[4].
In the Alps, similar buildings, known as "raccards"), similar to the granaries of Spain, are still used as granaries. In England, these granaries are also placed on stones such as "Muela (hórreo)"), on stilts, to prevent mice and rats from reaching the grain. In Italy there are several settlements of stilt houses, for example that of the Rocca of Manerba del Garda (Lombardy).