Organic materials, such as leather or plant fibres, are rarely found in archaeological contexts. Unless, that is, they have survived in an environment completely devoid of oxygen. Fortunately, the pile-dwelling villages offer this unique situation. A number of remnants of garments have already been recovered from the lake bed. These are not made solely of leather and fur. On the contrary: clothing made from sheep’s wool must have been rare. Much of the clothing consisted of woven linen and nettle fabric. Or woven work made from tree bast.

Before the inner bark of a tree, usually the bast of a lime tree, could be processed further, it first had to be retted in pits and broken down into fibres. The fibres were woven into mats and later tailored into a cloak or a cap to protect against sun and rain. Skirts and shoes were also often made of bast or grasses.

The same applied to flax stalks: after retting, they were dried, broken, beaten and combed. The resulting raw flax, known as tow, was spun and wound onto a spindle. Soaked in decoctions made from tree bark, roots, leaves and flowers, the threads took on vibrant colours.

Both small looms and large heavy-duty looms could be found in almost every house – and they were rarely idle: here, the endless threads grew into long lengths of fabric, from which the pile-dwelling people sewed their clothes using fine bone needles.

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.

Homemade clothes

Any child can make yarn and string. Don’t you think? You’ve surely twisted a thread or plaited a braid before. Then you’ve already taken the first step. The next step takes place at a loom. Here, lots of threads are hung up and weighted down. This keeps them in position. Then an extra-long thread is pulled crosswise between the hanging threads using a piece of wood called a shuttle. Back and forth, over and over. Inch by inch, a beautiful long piece of fabric is created.

Can you spot the little beater used to tap the weft thread into place?