Latenium, Archaeology Park and Museum - Institut des sciences
de l'antiquité, Université de Neuchâtel (CH).
The Latenium is one of the major archaeological institutions
in Switzerland. Opened in 2001, awarded the < Museum of the
year > prize by the European Council in 2003, the Neuchatel
Archaeology Park and Museum also hosts the Cantonal Archaeological
Service, several laboratories, and the Institute of prehistory
of the University of Neuchatel. Extending from the Middle
Palaeolithic to the Renaissance, its archaeological collections
(as well as the related archival materials) are the outcome
of a long-lasting tradition of heritage care and prehistoric
research in the canton of Neuchatel - with a special emphasis
on Neolithic and Late Bronze Age lakeshore settlements, and
on the finds from the famous Celtic site of La Tene. Owing
to the extensive excavation programs related to the A5 highway
construction, present research focuses on pre- and protohistoric
settlement strategies, as well as on the human impact on the
transformation of regional landscapes. All those studies lean
on the exploitation of the rich archival collections. Within
the AREA IV project, the Latenium will contribute through an
analysis on the changing roles and functions of museographic