{"id":2686,"date":"2026-03-09T11:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/?page_id=2686"},"modified":"2026-05-06T13:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T11:45:18","slug":"animal-house","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/open-air-museum\/animal-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Animal House"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='a'  class='avia-section av-6boj-964839248dbaa131430c011e9e66912b main_color avia-section-default avia-no-border-styling  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  avia-bg-style-scroll container_wrap fullsize'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><main  role=\"main\" itemprop=\"mainContentOfPage\"  class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-2686'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div  class='flex_column av-xke3-96c4b674a30a3471a9bbcaf7b1f7955b av_one_full  avia-builder-el-1  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  first flex_column_div  '     ><p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-lw9ee3ch-e80941b805c841da2f8137800e190191\">\n#top .av-special-heading.av-lw9ee3ch-e80941b805c841da2f8137800e190191{\npadding-bottom:10px;\n}\nbody .av-special-heading.av-lw9ee3ch-e80941b805c841da2f8137800e190191 .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{\nfont-size:25px;\n}\n.av-special-heading.av-lw9ee3ch-e80941b805c841da2f8137800e190191 .av-subheading{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='av-special-heading av-lw9ee3ch-e80941b805c841da2f8137800e190191 av-special-heading-h3  avia-builder-el-2  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Animal House<br \/>\nPets and Livestock Farming<\/h3><div class=\"special-heading-border\"><div class=\"special-heading-inner-border\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-lw6p7skz-3879436eebab07eb7e420d4d7b81001b '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, dogs and, over time, horses too \u2013 these were the main farm animals during the Bronze Age. The production of meat, milk and wool became increasingly important. Wear and tear on the bones that have been excavated show that oxen, cows and horses were also used as draught animals. The cultivation of fields near settlements developed, whilst the increased use of pastures and forests fundamentally altered the landscape. There are even early signs of a three-field system that was sustainable from an ecological perspective, but also indications of extensive clearing and deforestation of the lakeshore strip up to the surrounding hillsides of Lake Constance.<\/p>\n<p>During the summer months, livestock grazed in the region, possibly even in a form of transhumance, the practice of moving herds between widely separated areas. Shepherds and shepherdesses, as well as children, watched over the herds. They were accompanied by herding dogs. Two breeds, one smaller and one larger, have been identified in the pile-dwelling settlements.<\/p>\n<p>During the cold season, pastures and stables in the immediate vicinity of the settlements offered the herds protection from wild animals and cattle thieves. To replenish meat supplies, but also to limit the amount of fodder consumed during the season of sparse vegetation, numerous young animals were slaughtered in late autumn.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to keeping large farm animals, archaeological finds of hollowed-out tree trunks \u2013 known as log hives \u2013 provide evidence of beekeeping for the production of wax and honey.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Herding animals<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Herd animals still often graze in pastures today. They are usually enclosed by an electric fence to prevent them from running away. Of course, such fences did not exist back then. Shepherds therefore looked after the animals day and night. Smaller dogs such as the Torfspitz, and larger ones with pointed muzzles and erect ears, similar to sheepdogs, helped with this. Part of the herding work involved gathering wild herbs and turning the milk from the animals into cheese. In between, there was enough time to carve flutes and pipes. The bone pipe produced shrill signal tones. Beautiful melodies could be played on the elderwood flute. <strong>Have you spotted the shepherd yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1692,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2686","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5040,"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2686\/revisions\/5040"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i.pfahlbauten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}