Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/641

 STRUCTURES ANALOGOUS TO TERREMARE 471 which have materially helped to define the chronological horizon of the pile-dwellers. Excavations were first begun on the north margin of the "Gradina" close to the river, and subsequently on its west side. The fluctuations of the water-level of the Save vary to the extent of 7 metres, and when the highest level was reached all the operations within that limit had to be stopped. The first interesting discovery was a row of piles running parallel to the river, which proved to have been the under portion of a palisade against the current, as the piles were bound together by intertwining willow thongs. This palisading could only be followed for 19 metres, but there was little doubt that it extended along the whole length of the settlement. In continuing the excavations the remains of several houses supported on piles were brought to light. The woodwork, especially in the upper strata, was so decayed that it had to be soaked with a chemical mixture to prevent its crumbling away. The piles were thickly set, no less than nine hundred and seventy-eight having been counted over an area of 1160 square metres nearly one for every square metre. Many of them, however, belonged to a later period, and were inserted to strengthen old piles or for the support of new houses. The accompanying illustrations (PI. LXXL, A and B) show the supporting piles of one of the houses (A), marked No. 11 on Truhelka's plan, and the foundations of two houses (B) erected over the tops of the piles, with an intervening bridge. The piles varied from 10 to 45 centimetres in diameter and from i to 4 metres in height. They were for the most part made of oak stems still retaining the bark, but occasionally specimens of ash or elm were met with. They were very seldom split or squared, but the tips penetrated deeply into the mud, being well pointed with sharp tools. A little back from the river palisade there was a raised platform from which a sloping bridge gave access to the vaults containing the supporting piles, as well as to the houses erected above them. It appears that these vaults served as cattle-pens, an inference derived from the fact that large quantities of the dung of domestic animals were found in them. Little of the structural details of the dwelling-houses remained, except the foundations of the