When we were planning
our trip early in September, I had found mention of a prehistoric
lake village museum (Pfahlbau Museum) on the shore of Lake Constance.
Close to us in Somerset, archaeologists discovered the Glastonbury
Lake Village and the Sweet Track, uncovered during peat extraction on
the Somerset Levels, is the oldest known trackway in the world. We
were therefore very interested in the museum and, given that it was
so close to Zurich, it was put on our 'must visit' list.
Once again it was very
misty and there was no chance of enjoying the views over Lake
Constance on the way. However, when we arrived at the museum in
Uhldingen the murky weather added to the atmosphere and it was easier
to imagine the Stone Age and Bronze Age people going about their
daily lives.
The museum consists of
a collection of reconstructed Stone and Bronze Age houses set on
piles above the lake close to the shore. They are based on finds from
the hundred or so settlements found on or by lakes in the Lake
Constance area. Uhldingen itself had a huge Bronze Age settlement of
some 80 houses surrounded by a palisade although this appears to been
on dry-ish land on the lakeside.
The guided tour took us
to two of the reconstructed Stone Age houses where the guide
explained in great detail, unfortunately in German that was well
beyond our understanding, about life in the Stone and Bronze Ages. We
were however able to see the construction of the houses with
kitchens, storage, working and sleeping areas. The houses were full
of reconstructed artefacts such as pottery, furniture, cooking
utensils, ovens, fishing nets and traps and many other tools. The
houses were themed by trade such as 'The Potter's House', 'The
Weaver's House' etc. although it was made clear that this was done to
assist in organising the tourists visits. There is no evidence that
individuals followed a single trade. The tools and techniques were
demonstrated by the guide and these we could understand. Flour was
produced using a pair of grinding stones, fire produced by striking
flint with a piece of fool's gold, hand axes were drilled to enable
them to be fitted to a wooden shaft (a slow process at 1mm per hour!)
and flint was knapped to produce knives, scrapers and arrow heads. A
stone axe hafted to a long wooden handle, used for tree felling and
shaping, was passed around and it was great to be able to feel the
weight and balance of an authentic recreation of a Stone Age tool.
After the guided tour
we were left to our own devices to investigate the village although
the interior of the themed houses could only be seen on the guided
tours. Three of the houses in the Bronze Age section were open and
had scenes with life-sized figures demonstrating prehistoric life on
the themes of living and crafts, environment and animals, and cult
and religion. Here there were short descriptions in English and this
aided our understanding. After a conversation with the guide before
we bought our tickets, we purchased a guide to the museum in English
and we were able to refer to this as we walked around. Some time
later I was able to read the rest of the substantial guide and I must
say that it is excellent, providing a wealth of information and well
worth the €4 price tag.
One of the most
interesting exhibits was a cart based on excavated finds including a
complete wooden wheel found in waterlogged conditions north of Lake
Constance. By experimental archaeology it has been determined that
the cart would only take two days to make and that it could be
dismantled in 30 minutes for storage! At the entrance to the museum
were a few rooms of interesting finds and reconstructions with
descriptions in English. I was even more impressed when I found a
model reconstruction of a wooden trackway with the note “ Model
'Sweet Track'. Somerset shire Southwest-England (GB). Age of the
original: 5800 years.”
I can thoroughly
recommend the Pfahlbau Museum if you are visiting the area and don't
forget to buy the excellent English guide book.
We had identified a
stellplatz at a brewery museum in Bad Schussenfried, a town famous
for its beer and this, in my humble opinion, seemed like a very good
place to spend the night. When we got there, it turned out to be the
weekend of their Oktober Fest. This was even better news as we had
seen many advertised on our journey and were hoping to be able to
experience one. The bad news was that, unsurprisingly, the stellplatz
behind the brewery was heaving and we couldn't squeeze Henrietta in
anywhere. Jane had identified another Stellplatz in the town so we
plugged the coordinates into the Sat Nav and set of. It turned out to
be on the edge of town close to a lake and across a few fields from
the biggest beer tent that I have ever seen. Music drifted, or rather
stormed across the fields and invaded the van. It wasn't going to be
the quietest pitch but there was plenty of room and it was only a
short walk to where all of the Fest action was happening. Early in
the evening we went to investigate to festival tent and found a large
crowd outside. It appeared to be a chargeable event and the tent was
full with bouncers preventing anyone else entering. We walked on into
town which was interesting but there didn't appear to be any other
events happening there. We found the Schusserieder Brewery Museum bar
which we would call the Brewery Tap – the pub attached to the
brewery. Obliged to sample to local brew, we found some seats amongst
the traditionally dressed locals and ordered two beers. Jane was
going to order a 0.3 litre glass but I persuaded her to have half a
litre so that I could have some of hers. The beer was very good and,
much to my disappointment, Jane easily managed to drink the whole of
hers.
When we got back to
Henrietta, the festival tent was still pulsating to the music. The
entertainment was one of the many Bavarian oompah bands and after
every few numbers they sang the standard drinking refrain joined, it
seemed, by the whole of the audience who were presumably raising
their glasses full of foaming beer – not that I was jealous, you
understand.
Photos: The Bronze Age
houses; The Stone Age village taken from the pallisade that
surrounded it – the main building was though to be a village
meeting house on the original excavations; The cart; The
Schusserieder brewery tap bar.
