Stilt houses in prehistoric Europe

[The Lawspeaker]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Pfahlbauten.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Pfahlbauten_Unteruhldingen_2005_05.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/de/2/2c/Pfahlbauten_Unteruhldingen.jpg

In what part of the Maledives or in Papua New Guinea is this and what Dajak of Indonesia has constructed this ?

None actually. This is the Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen (http://www.pfahlbauten.de/) along the Bodensee in Uhldingen-Mühlhofen, Germany
The houses are reconstructed stilt houses from the Neolithic Stone and Bronze Age that once seem to have dotted the area.

I am not familiar with the subject and I stumbled upon the pictures by accident (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paalwoning_%28bouwwerk%29) on wikipedia. So if anyone has more information about stone and bronze age architecture in this particular part of Europe then let's share it.

[Graham]

They look like you could live in them, cool :P We have our own version here, there called Crannóg's, The name crannóg, is from Old Irish "crannóc", from crann, tree and 'og' young.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/3081387331_85d2900c66.jpg

[Sabinae]

I will look into the Romanian history for more info on these houses, I know for sure that some use houses like these in modern society, for restaurants and leisure places on the lakes around Bucharest. Like casa Kraus for instance.
http://www.afterhours.ro/files/Casa%20Kraus_1.JPG

[Treffie]

They look like you could live in them, cool :P We have our own version here, there called Crannóg's, The name crannóg, is from Old Irish "crannóc", from crann, tree and 'og' young.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/3081387331_85d2900c66.jpg

Interesting, it seems we all have them :)

This one in Wales was originally built in the late 9th century

http://www.llangorselake.co.uk/Photos/Crannog%202.jpg

[Albion]

If sea levels keep rising this is how the Dutch and Eastern English will live soon :D
I love the concept of crannogs, how interesting it'd be to live above water like that.

The Welsh one is my favourite since a more humble afair like that is probably how most crannogs looked like.

http://www.llangorselake.co.uk/Photos/Crannog%202.jpg

In the Germanic lands I believe Terpen were more preferred, raised mounds of earth which formed islands at times of flooding.

[Bloodeagle]

Are these structures erected in tidal areas with shallow waters? I can see the advantage to fishermen who might want to use a more stable and deeper hulled vessel in turbulent seas. By going out a bit further from the shore, they could dock their vessels at home. :confused:
Then again maybe they where easier to defend against attack?

This was the only information I could find.

Early archaeologists like Ferdinand Keller (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Ferdinand_Keller)Ferdinand Keller
Ferdinand Keller is the name of:* Ferdinand Keller , Swiss archaeologist and antiquity scholar* Ferdinand Keller...

thought they formed artificial islands, much like the Scottish Crannog (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Crannog)Crannog
A crannóg is an artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters, and most often used as an island settlement or dwelling place in prehistoric or medieval times. The name may refer to a wooden platform erected on shallow floors, but few remains of this can be found...

s, but today it is clear that the majority of settlements were located on the shores of lakes and were only inundated later on.

[Albion]

Are these structures erected in tidal areas with shallow waters? I can see the advantage to fishermen who might want to use a more stable and deeper hulled vessel in turbulent seas. By going out a bit further from the shore, they could dock their vessels at home. :confused:
Then again maybe they where easier to defend against attack?

This was the only information I could find.

I think they were for defence purposes and to be close to a source of food and water.

[mvbeleg]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/LAKETOWN.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esgaroth

[Magister Eckhart]

I recall seeing that the Celts did a lot of this sort of thing, but not over water. There are a number of causeways and evidence of stilt houses over the moors and other swamps in Ireland and Britain, if I recall correctly.

Also, when you think about it, Venice is really just a very advanced stilt city, except it's supported by stone instead of wood.

[The Lawspeaker]

I recall seeing that the Celts did a lot of this sort of thing, but not over water. There are a number of causeways and evidence of stilt houses over the moors and other swamps in Ireland and Britain, if I recall correctly.

Also, when you think about it, Venice is really just a very advanced stilt city, except it's supported by stone instead of wood.
And the same goes for for instance for Amsterdam. :)

As the old song goes:

Amsterdam die mooie stad
is gebouwd op palen.
Als die stad eens ommeviel
wie zou dat betalen.

Amsterdam that beautiful city
has been built on stilts
And if the city would collapse
then who should be paying.

The Royal Palace (form. City Hall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace_of_Amsterdam)), for instance, has been build on no less then 13659 wooden stilts. (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paalfundering)

Too bad that it's such a small picture but this is how it worked: they drilled poles into the ground and they build the houses on top of them because the ground was so marshy (and still is):

http://itt.hu.nl/1533409/amsterdam_bestanden/image004.jpg



And building on stils or poles (called heipalen in Dutch) is still very much the way things are being done.

[Hevneren]

And the same goes for for instance for Amsterdam. :)

As the old song goes:

Amsterdam die mooie stad
is gebouwd op palen.
Als die stad eens ommeviel
wie zou dat betalen.

Amsterdam that beautiful city
has been built on stilts
And if the city would collapse
then who should be paying.

Yes, and an old saying goes: If you turn Amsterdam up-side-down, you'll have a Norwegian forest. ;)

[The Lawspeaker]

Yes, and an old saying goes: If you turn Amsterdam up-side-down, you'll have a Norwegian forest. ;)
And they are right. We imported wood from Norway and Sweden that was used for just about everything -- Norway's forests ended up on the other side of the globe as a Dutch East Indiaman (http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiegelretourskip). And not just that: I read somewhere that the Norwegians contributed on a genetic level as well with some Norwegians moving to Amsterdam looking for work or ship captains bringing home a cute Norwegian or Swedish girl. :D

[Johnston]

And they are right. We imported wood from Norway and Sweden that was used just about everything. And not just that: I read somewhere that the Norwegians contributed on a genetic level as well with some Norwegians moving to Amsterdam looking for work or ship captains bringing home a cute Norwegian or Swedish girl. :D

Norwegian Wood

lY5i4-rWh44

[Hevneren]

And they are right. We imported wood from Norway and Sweden that was used for just about everything -- Norway's forests ended up on the other side of the globe as a Dutch East Indiaman (http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiegelretourskip). And not just that: I read somewhere that the Norwegians contributed on a genetic level as well with some Norwegians moving to Amsterdam looking for work or ship captains bringing home a cute Norwegian or Swedish girl. :D


Yes indeed, there was quite an extensive emigration of Norwegians to the Netherlands during the 1600's and 1700's. Norwegians were employed in the Dutch navy in considerable numbers, or as maids. I may be wrong, but I also believe some if not all of those who put the stilts of Norwegian timber underneath Amsterdam, were Norwegian themselves.

Here's a part from Wikipedia on Norwegians in the Netherlands:


Loosely estimated, some 10% of the population may have emigrated, in a period when the entire Norwegian population consisted of some 800,000 people.

The Norwegians left with the Dutch trade ships that when in Norway traded for timber, hides, herring and stockfish (dried codfish). Young women took employment as maids in Amsterdam. Young men took employment as sailors. Large parts of the Dutch merchant fleet and navy came to consist of Norwegians and Danes. They took Dutch names, so no trace of Norwegian names can be found in the Dutch population of today. One well-known illustration is that of Admiral Kruys. He was hired in Amsterdam by Peter I to develop the Russian navy, but was originally from Stavanger, Norway (Kruys means "cross", and the Russian maritime flag is today also a blue cross on white background).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegians#The_Netherlands

Cornelius Kruys/Cruys:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Cornelius_Cruys-col.jpg