Neuchâtel is the capital of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel.
The city has as of December 2013 approximately 33,600 inhabitants (80,000 in the metropolitan area). The city is sometimes referred to historically by the German name About this sound Neuenburg, which has the same meaning, since it originally belonged to the Holy Roman Empire and later Prussia, which ruled the area until 1848.
The official language of Neuchâtel is French.
Neuchâtel is a pilot of the Council of Europe and the European Commission Intercultural cities programme.
The oldest traces of humans in the municipal area are the remains of a Magdalenian hunting camp, which was dated to 13,000 BC. It was discovered in 1990 during construction of the A5 motorway at Monruz (La Coudre). The site was about 5 m (16 ft) below the main road. Around the fire pits carved flints and bones were found. In addition to the flint and bone artifacts three tiny earrings from lignite were found. The earrings may have served as symbols of fertility and represent the oldest known art in Switzerland. This first camp was used by Cro-Magnons to hunt horse and reindeer in the area. Azilian hunters had a camp at the same site at about 11,000 BC. Since the climate had changed, their prey was now deer and wild boar.
During the 19th century, traces of some stilt houses were found in Le Cret near the red church. However, their location was not well documented and the site was lost. In 1999, during construction of the lower station of the funicular railway, which connects the railway station and university, the settlement was rediscovered. It was later determined to be a Cortaillod culture (middle Neolithic) village. According to dendrochronological studies, some of the piles were from 3571 BC.
A Hallstatt grave (early Iron Age) was found in the forest of Les Cadolles. At Les Favarger a Gallo-Roman and at André Fontaine, a small coin depot were discovered. In 1908, an excavation at the mouth of Serrière discovered Gallo-Roman baths from the 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD.
There are 32 sites in Neuchâtel that are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire old city of Neuchâtel is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
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