During the warmer climate of the mesolithic period, increasing forest cover restricted the movement of hunters, fishers and gatherers.

Their temporary settlements were built along lake and marsh edges, which remained free of trees due to fluctuations in water level.

Important mesolithic sites in the Canton are at Pieterlenmoos and Burgäschisee lake along with alpine valleys at Diemtig and Simmental.

During the neolithic period, there were a number of settlements on the shores of Lake Biel, the Toteisbecken (Lobsigensee, Moossee, Burgäschisee and Inkwilersee) and along rivers (Aare, Zihl).

The transition to the Late Iron Age of the La Tène culture (450−1st century BCE) is indicated by a sudden change of style in the metalworking and ceramic industries.

Numerous graves (from unknown settlements), along with the two oppida at Bern-Engehalbinsel and Jensberg by Studen, mark the population centers during the late Iron Age.

The religious practices of the local population merged with Roman beliefs and the Canton of Bern is home to a number of unique cult centers.

They established royal courts at Bümpliz, Münsingen, Uetendorf, Wimmis, Kirchberg and Utzenstorf to allow them to govern the Aare valley.

The succession dispute following the death of Rudolph III in 1032 allowed the Salian kings to acquire the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy and with it the Aare valley.

The Bishops of Basel and Lausanne remained loyal to King Henry IV, and took the Rheinfelden lands in Oberaargau and the upper Aare valley.

Their hopes for a new, independent Burgundy were dashed in 1156, and the last Zähringen count, Berchtold V, embarked on a program of city founding.

The cities of Burgdorf, Murten, Thun and Bern were all founded by Berchtold V. When he died without an heir, the Zähringen lands went to the House of Kyburg, while the offices and fiefs reverted to the empire.

[4] During the High Middle Ages both the Aare valley and the Bernese Oberland were divided into a number of small counties, each with their own baron.

During the mid-13th century, the Empire's presence weakened in the Aare valley, forcing the local nobles to find allies to protect themselves.

In 1300, the city acquired the four surrounding parishes of Bolligen, Vechigen, Stettlen and Muri, destroyed the threatening castles of Bremgarten and Belp and gave the Baron of Montenach Bernese citizenship.

[8] Bern's support of Eberhard, their resulting expansion into the Oberland and their alliance with the Forest Cantons brought the city into conflict with the Habsburgs during the 14th century.

[9] The allied Bernese forces were victorious at the Battle of Laupen and Bern drew closer to the Swiss Forest Cantons.

Bern entered into a series of agreements with Biel/Bienne, which led to a conflict with Biel's ruler, Jean de Vienne, the Prince-Bishop of Basel, in 1367–68.

The ensuing conflict with the Old Swiss Confederacy (known as the Burgdorferkrieg or Kyburgerkrieg) allowed Bern to move against the Habsburgs in Aargau.

They acquired the following towns: 1391 Simmenegg, 1399 Signau, 1400 Frutigen, 1407 Wangen, 1408 Trachselwald and Huttwil, 1412 Oltigen and in 1413 (together with Solothurn) Bipp and Bechburg.

Under their control, the five valleys of the Oberland enjoyed extensive rights and far-reaching autonomy in the Bäuerten (farming cooperative municipalities) and Talverbänden (rural alpine communities).

Reformation was started by co-workers of John Calvin, including Viret, who engaged in a famous debate at the cathedral of Lausanne; but it was only decisively implemented when Bern put its full force behind it.

The military losses and taxes following the Old Zürich War led Saanen to support the Evil League (Böser Bund) in 1445 against Bern.

In 1475, during the Burgundian Wars, the mountain regions of Saanen and Pays-d'Enhaut, who were allied with Bern, attacked and burned the tower of Aigle Castle.

During the Burgundian War in 1475, Saanen, together with troops from Château-d'Œx and the Simmental captured the Savoy district of Aigle for Bern.

[16] The area of the canton of Bern consists of lands acquired by the city of Bern mostly between the 14th and the 16th century during the original Swiss Confederacy period, both by conquest and purchase.Acquired districts, with dates of acquisition, include: In the Middle Ages, upwards mobility and access to public offices was relatively easy for successful traders and craftsmen, but Bernese society became ever more stratified and aristocratic as the power and wealth of the city grew.

[4] In effect, public offices were now the exclusive prerogative of the gnädige Herren, the "merciful lords", as the small number of noble families now ruling Bern came to be called.

Patrician Landvögte, sheriffs, ruled the politically powerless countryside, often using armed force to put down peasant revolts.

The classic Swiss cheese with holes Emmentaler comes from this region's forests and pastures, of hilly and low mountainous countryside in the 1,000 to 2,000 m (3,300 to 6,600 ft) range.

Further east, in the Haslital are the Aareschlucht and the town of Meiringen, famous for the fateful scene of Sherlock Holmes's 'death' at the hands of Professor Moriarty on the nearby Reichenbach Falls.