Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/540

 CHAPTER XV

the previous lectures I have described, more or less in detail, the structural remains and industrial relics found on the sites of the palafittes of North Italy, whether constructed in lake, marsh, or on land. When I had the opportunity of bringing this subject before English readers in 1890, the. ground occupied by these settlements was almost entirely confined to the Po Valley. The terremare were located chiefly in Emilia on both sides of the railway, extending from Piacenza through the provinces of Parma, Reggio, and Modena, on to Bologna. They were also found north of the Po in small groups in the provinces of Verona, Mantua, and the adjoining parts of Brescia and Cremona. They were not, however, recorded in the Veneto nor to the west of Emilia. As to their origin, it had been long held by Pigorini that they were an outcome of the lake-dwelling system. He supposed that their founders, who originally were lake-dwellers, having crossed the Po, were so attached to the method of constructing habitations on platforms supported on wooden piles, that they continued this same method, not only on the low-lying plains, but also on hilly districts up to the foot of the Apennines. Chierici went so far as to maintain that in laying out a settle- ment they actually made an artificial lake, and kept it supplied with water from an adjacent stream. Later researches, however, proved that these hydrostatic arrangements were merely to convey water to a moat which usually surrounded the village.