The clay came from the local area. Before the pile-dwellers used the coil and patch techniques to shape bowls, pots and cups from it, they mixed it with quartz sand or small pieces of weathered rock. This gave the tough mixture greater stability and made it easier to shape. A fire lit in an open pit served as a kiln. This could reach temperatures of between 600 and 800 degrees Celsius.

The composition of the clay used, the shape, colour and decoration provide reliable clues as to the origin of the object in question. For the trained eye, even a small shard is sufficient to determine its chronological and geographical context. Coarsely made pots and vessels with simple decorations such as fingerprints or grooves occur throughout the Stone Age. The impressions of cords in the still-soft clay point to the culture of the so-called Corded Ware people of the 3rd millennium BC. At the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, the pile-dwelling people on Lake Constance produced high-quality, black-coloured pottery. It was highly polished and adorned with striking white incised patterns. Some pots were fitted with practical handles for easier handling. Or eyelets, so that the pots could be hung up to keep them safe from thieving mice.

In the Stone Age, there were no professions as such. However, there were certainly talents and skills, so it is likely that some people were more inclined to make pottery or jewellery, go fishing or hunting, build houses or work with stone.

House type:

Two-room Stone Age pile-dwelling (c. 3500 BC), walls made of woven, clay-plastered twigs.

Reconstructed:

1939, based on excavations at Riedschachen 1 in the Federsee moor, Aichbühl near Bad Schussenried and Sipplingen, 1923–1930.

Tableware for children’s hands

It’s smaller than the adult version, of course. Children’s tableware existed as far back as the Neolithic period. If you don’t want it to get knocked over, it simply has to be made for little hands. And when the little cups, bowls and pots aren’t being used, they fit perfectly in a doll’s house. We’ve hidden a few children’s pots amongst the large ones.

Can you spot them?