Pile dwelling – Neues Museum am See

Showcase Pile dwelling

Pile dwelling – Secure and with a great view

Wood, clay and grass – these are the materials needed for a pile dwelling. The supporting framework, floor, walls, fireplace and roof are all made of these three materials. Trees provide the raw material for the piles, pile shoes, floor coverings, wall structures, ropes and shingles. The tools – spades, hotchet handles and wedges – are also made of wood. The clay doesn’t just seal the floor. It is also used to cover the walls.

Likewise, fireplaces and ovens are made out of clay. Tree bark serves as insulation. Reed and wooden shingles form the roof. Fibers, branches and cords hold the entire structure together. A pile dwelling is completely compostable. It is conveniently located along the transportation routes and offers a unique view over the lake. The village’s palisade protect it from waves, storms and uninvited guests.

A1

Fragments of rope | Lime bast | 3900, 3800 and 3000 BC | Horn-Hornstaad Hörnle, Wallhausen-Ziegelhütte, Sipplingen-Osthafen | ALM

A well-tied knot is half of the building
A pile dwelling was built without any nails – the components were bound to each other using ropes and knots. Balls of string, ropes and simple cords were usually made from lime bast, which was removed from the tree bark, while flax or nettle fibers were used to make finer strings.

A2

Balls of string | 3000 BC | Switzerland | REM

B1

Wall fragments |Clay, painted | 3850 BC | Ludwigshafen-Seehalde | Fiebelmann Coll.

Painted wall fragments
The clay walls of Stone Age houses were sometimes decorated with symbols and patterns in black, white or red, the meaning of which still remains a mystery. The oldest finds of figurative wall paintings in Central Europe (3860 BC) come from the pile-dwelling settlements of Sipplingen and Ludwigshafen: plastic female breasts made of clay, surrounded by white dots and lines, create the image of stylized women. In between the breast pairs, there are tree-like depictions that are interpreted as trees of life or ancestral trees. The drawings are thought to be part of the internal decoration of ritual houses. They are ascribed a mythical function within the commemorative tradition of these early communities.

Reconstruction: M. Erne according to the specifications of H. Schlichtherle and M. Fischer | LAD

B2

Modeled breasts | Clay | 3700 and 2900 BC | Reute-Schorrenried, Bodman-Weiler | ALM

B3

Wall fragment | Clay, pole fragment | 3000 BC | Sipplingen-Osthafen | APM

C1

Pile shoe and pile fragment | Oak wood | 900 BC | Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen | APM

Pile shoes
There were several methods to prevent the piles from sinking into the lake’s soft bed:

tenoning the piles into pile shoes,
bracing the house piles to each other,
the distribution of the weight across many piles,
the use of very long piles that reach down to solid ground,
the attachment of cross-shaped rods to the piles
the use of perforated struts

Reconstruction: M. Erne according to the specifications of H. Schlichtherle and M. Fischer | LAD

C2

Component with mortise | Ash | 3900 BC | Degersee | ALM

C3

Wedges | Beech wood | 2900 BC | Bad Schussenried-Olzreute-Enzisholz | ALM

An useful tool

Simple wooden wedges were used to split tree trunks, to make boards and also to split firewood.
Illustration: G. Embleton | APM

C4

Chisels | Stone, antler, bone | 3600 and 3000 BC | Unteruhldingen-Bayenwiesen, Sipplingen-Osthafen | APM

D1

Axe |Stone, ash wood| 3800 BC | Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen | APM

D2

Hoe fragment | Antler | 3600 BC | Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen | APM

D3

Shaft fragment with clamp | Ash wood | 3000 BC |Nußdorf-Strandbad | ALM

D4

Axe blade | Bedrock | 3000 BC | Unteruhldingen-Bayenwiesen | APM

D5

Axe blade | Bronze | 900 BC | Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen | APM

D6

Fragment of a small axe shaft with a bone blade and a toy dugout canoe | Ash | 3800 and 3000 BC | Wangen-Hinterhorn, Unteruhldingen-Bayenwiesen | APM, FAU UFG

Toys? Not at all!
Bows, animal figurines, cups, dugout canoes and axes: In the Stone and Bronze Ages there were many miniature objects that were made especially for children’s hands. The children didn’t just play with them, they also helped with housework – for example, making firewood with a child’s axe.

Illustration: G. Embleton | APM