Sion, Switzerland

Sion (sjɔ̃; Sitten ˈzɪtn̩; Seduno; Sedunum) is a Swiss town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Valais and of the district of Sion. it had a population of (known as Sédunois(es)). On 17 January 1968, the former municipality of Bramois merged into the municipality of Sion. On 1 January 2013, the former municipality of Salins merged into the municipality of Sion, and on 1 January 2017, Les Agettes did the same. Landmarks in Sion include the Basilique de Valère and the Château de Tourbillon. Sion has an airfield for civilian and military use, which serves as a base for air rescue missions. Sion is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Europe. The alluvial fan of the river Sionne, the rocky slopes above the river and, to a lesser extent, Valeria and Tourbillon hills have been settled nearly continuously since antiquity. The oldest trace of human settlement comes from 6200 BC during the late Mesolithic. Around 5800 BC early Neolithic farmers from the Mediterranean settled in Sion. The settlements remained small until about 4500 BC, during the middle Neolithic, when the number of settlements increased sharply. To support the population increase, farming and grazing spread throughout the valley. They also began burying their dead in Chablandes-type stone burial cists with engraved anthropomorphic stelae. The individual graves changed at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC in large, dry stone wall communal tombs (such as the Dolmen of Le Petit-Chasseur). During the Beaker culture period in the second half of the third Millennium, dolmens were built once again, but they were smaller and had no podium. Stelae continued to be carved, though these were rich with geometric patterns and sometimes built out of old dolmen. At the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (around 2300 BC) the last stelae were erected. The early settlements have been well documented. There are huts from the Middle Neolithic period found near Le Petit Chasseur and under Ritz Avenue.