| Unteruhldingen in Germany, near Lake Constance, is home to an open-air museum
(Pfahlbauern Museum) showing 20 reconstructed lake dwellings from the Stone and Bronze Ages (4000 - 858 BC). The
museum, which opened in 1922, was one the first of its kind in Europe. Today it attracts about 300,000 visitors a year from all over the
world. It gives an insight into how people lived thousands of years ago. The dwellings consisted of wooden huts built on piles in the
water, mainly providing protection against marauders. The huts had beaten clay floors and some also housed sheep and
cattle. Remains of various pile-dwelling settlements are found in many parts of the
world. |
