Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/118

112 flint weapons, tools of horn and bone, several implements of maple wood, two or three long bows such as are still used by the South sea islanders, and a canoe 12 ft. long, 1$1⁄2$ ft. broad, and 5 in. deep. The relic bed is 3 ft. thick. It is conjectured that the settlement was inhabited for many centuries, and that the first two structures were destroyed by fire, as the heads of the piles are charred and quantities of charcoal are found in the relic bed. The direction and arrangement of the masses of charcoal suggest that at least one of the fires occurred during the strong south wind (Fön) by which at some time nearly every town in Switzerland has suffered. Almost the entire shore of the Untersee was lined with lake dwellings; those at Wangen have been most carefully explored and have yielded a greater abundance of articles than any other. Here were found numerous spindle whorls of clay, charred flax in all stages of manufacture, baked bread, and nearly 100 bushels of grain. Fascine structures are found at Niederwyl and Wauwyl. In the former split stems and boards were largely used, and some of the beams were mortised. There is no trace of burning. At Nidau-Steinberg, on the lake of Bienne, is a lake settlement in which have been found manufactured articles of wood, horn, bone, clay, flint, bronze, iron, and gold. It is especially rich in bronze relics, consisting of hatchets, knives, sickles, spear heads, chisels, pins, needles, fish hooks, rings, and wire. The articles of iron include spear heads and two curved plates riveted to a piece of wood between them; the articles of gold are a corrugated plate and a spiral of square wire. Some of the piles in this settlement are 10 in. in diameter, and were sharpened by the action of fire. Much of the pottery found here was unbroken, and some of the vessels were very large. At Morges the moulds for casting bronze hatchets were found. But in none of the lake dwellings is there any evidence of the use of the potter's wheel. The only one of the Swiss lake dwellings which bears the distinctive characters of the iron age is at Marin, on the lake of Neufchâtel. Here were also found rings, balls, and beads of glass, colored blue and yellow, and portions of eight human skeletons, including one skull. The number of iron weapons and implements found here is very large, and many of them are ornamented. Dr. Keller declares that "these ornamentations do not show the least relation to the Celtic implements which have come to light, and quite as little to those of Roman origin." He believes that the swords and lance points came from the workshops of Gaul.—Various attempts have been made to estimate the age of these lake dwellings, the form and size of the superstructures, and the number of inhabitants; but the figures obtained are largely the result of conjecture, and have very little value. Nor is it certain what was the exact reason for building on the water instead of on land. Protection from hostile tribes, safety from wild beasts, and convenience for fishing have been suggested, but are far from satisfactory. It seems pretty clear that they were not merely temporary abodes, that domestic animals as well as human beings were housed in them, and that some of them were abandoned without being burned. The scarcity of human remains is an enigma to archæologists, and not the slightest clue appears as to the manner in which the lacustrians disposed of their dead. Dr. Oswald Heer, in his work on the plants of the lake dwellings, says they show connection with the countries of the Mediterranean, but none with eastern Europe. The cereals were identical with those of the ancient Egyptians. The fauna of the lake dwellings includes a large number of fishes and birds still common to the country (but with no trace of any domestic fowl), and the bear, the dog, the ass, the ibex, the sheep, the cow, the hog, and other large animals, many of them belonging to extinct species. Since the discovery of the lake dwellings of Switzerland, similar structures have been found in Italy, Bavaria, Saxony, the French Jura, and other parts of Germany and France, and in Denmark.—The first discovery of crannoges in Ireland was made by William R. Wilde in 1839, near Dunshaughlin, county Meath. The lake of Lagore being drained, a circular mound 520 ft. in circumference, which had been known as an island, was seen to be of artificial construction. Oak piles had been used, mortised into planks laid flat on the bottom of the lake, and strengthened with cross beams. Some of the piles were grooved to hold panels which were driven down between them. The space within was filled with peat intermingled with bones of horses, asses, deer, sheep, goats, dogs, and foxes, and contained a large number of ornaments, weapons, and