Interior decorating is not the modern phenomenon that you may have thought. Archaeologists working on a prehistoric site near Wennugen, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, have found fragments of wall dating from 600 BCE which have brightly coloured patterns painted on them. Thousands of fragments were found and these have been painstakingly put together over the last two years, top provide over 3 square metres of completed wall.
     Harald Meller, the state archaeologist for Saxony-Anhalt is quoted as saying "We know that prehistoric times were not grey but rather that prehistoric houses were colourfully painted" "The painted wall possibly decorated the front of an important house". The re-constituted section of wall will be displayed near the site, in the eastern German city of Halle, at the State Museum for Prehistory.

Edited from The Local (8 August 2011)