Long-term experiments

These two houses were rebuilt on the basis of excavations in Hornstaad (D) (No. 1) and Arbon (CH) (No. 2) on Lake Constance. They are reconstructions of Stone Age models. The goal is to see how long they can withstand the effects of the environment. They are long-term archaeological experiments.

Once the building materials (wood, clay, reed grass, planks) have been collected, 4 – 6 craftsmen can build a house in 3 – 4 weeks, whereby No. 1 takes a little longer than No. 2 due to the more complex construction method with clay wattle wall and grass roof.

Hornstaad House No. 1 is the earliest building model on the lake and has also bee found in Unteruhldingen, Sipplingen, Bodman and Constance and was first erected in 1996 together with the ‘Sendung mit der Maus’ programme oft he German television.

Uhldi the Stone Age Man lived in this building for a while. It fell over in a summer storm in 2009 and was rebuilt slightly displaced. The first house lasted 13 years.

The Arbonhaus was built in 1998 and since then has defied nature, the effects of floods and low water, storms, snow and ice. It has not yet completely collapsed.
Initial results show that a construction method using split fir boards for walls and roofs is more durable and resistant. However, the decisive factor for the durability of a house lies in the resistance of the load-bearing piles to the effects of the weather on a lake.

If excavations show that such wooden houses only stood for 10 to 30 years and then had to be rebuilt, then this is confirmed in this field test.

It will be exciting for researchers to document this area once the experiment has been completed and compare it with the results of modern excavations.