Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/777

* LAKE DWELLINGS. 703 LAKE DWELLINGS. where in both hemisplieres, among all types of mankind, in modern as well as in ancient times, and in every grade of culture. Celtic peoples lived on crannoges, both in Ire- land and Soutliwestern Scotland, during the wars that followed the Roman Conquest. Herodotus describes the lake dwellings erected by the Pa'o- nians over the waters of Lake I'rasias in Thrace; Hippocrates mentions them on the shores of the river Phasis, in Colchis, east of the Black Sea; in Sindh, Northwestern India, the habitations of pastoral tribes are elevated on piles to avoid dampness and insects; they are found in the lakes of Central Africa, throughout the Malay Archipelago and the Philippine Islands, and even in the ilelanesian groups; they were con- structed on the Amazon, and in Guiana ; and on Lake ilaracaibo they were so abundant that the first discoverers named the country Venezuela, or 'Little Venice.' The account of the discovery of the lake dwell- ings forms one of the most interesting chapters in the history of arch;eology. Fishermen on the Swiss lakes had long complained that their nets became entangled in obstructions on the bot- tom. Then came the exceptionally dry and cold winter of 1853-54, when the lakes, not receiving their usual supply of water, sank a foot lower tlian was ever known before, leaving broad -strands and islands along the margins. In a small bay. on Lake Zurich, between Ober Jleilen and Dollikon, the inhabitants, in order to en- large the size of their gardens, built a wall down to the water-line, and filled the depression by dredging mud from the lake. Not only stumps of ancient piles, but hundreds of implements of handicraft made from stone, bone, and espe- cially of antler, came up in the dredge. No metal objects were found, only the relics of a very rude and primitive race. Most of the greater lakes, including Bienne, Constance, Geneva, Morat. Neuchatel, and Sem- pach. disclosed not one. but many settlements, Neuchatel as many as fifty, while many smaller lakes yielded valuable archicological material. Troyon attempted to reconstruct from data thus obtained the settlement of Morges, one of the largest on Lake Geneva, which was 1200 feet long by 150 broad, covering 180,000 square feet, and estimated its population at more than 1200; while the villages on Lake Neuchatel seem to have had about 5000 inhabitants, the entire Stone Age in Switzerland numbered about .31,875 living in this form of habitation, and the Bronze Age 42.500. From the station of Wangen on Lake Constance 4450 stone axes and other relics were recovered : from iloosseedorf. near Bern, 2702, covering a great variety of Stone Age im- plements; and from Nidau, on Lake Bienne, over 2000 artifacts in bronze of creat beauty mixed with Neolithic implements. The palafittes dis- covered and reported are only a handful as com- pared with those that actually existed, and in some of those mentioned as a single station there were twenty or more separate structures. Rot- ting of piles, conflagrations, war, and natural catastrophes were among the causes necessitating rebuilding. That many structures were de- stroyed anil rebuilt on their own dfbris is evi- denced by the existence of three or more super- imposed layers in the lake's bottom. Rohen- liausen shows three layers of piles, 100.000 in all, and at Morges, on Lake Geneva, three con- tiguous stations cover Swiss ancient history, one of them containing only stone, a second stone and bronze, and the third bronze alone. The designers of the lake dwellings followed two plans of construction, the crannoge style, closely related to terraced mounds, and the pile building, resting above the water on posts. In the former, stones, brush, and mud were hcajjed up in shallow places in small sheets of water not far from shore. Short piles were driven around the edge of the tumulus and retaining walls were rudely constructed, not to support the mass, but to ]jrotect it. On the top of these islands lived the family or clan. In the smaller Swiss lakes, where the surf was not too strong for the sea wall, crannoge foundations were erected. But on the larger lakes where tiie winds often made the waters turbulent, was adopted the second method, or pile structures. After bronze axes found their way into the region, it was not difficult to fell a tree si.x inches in diameter, but before the Bronze Age, in the building of Wangen on Lake Constance. Moosseedorf. Nussdorf. and Wauwyl, only stone axes were used. ' The lower ends of the piles look as though they had been gnawed by beavers. The amount of labor involved may be judged from the fact that at Wangen alone 50,000 piles were used. In case the bottom was hard, stones were heaped about the bases of the piles. A dugout boat laden with stone was found at the station of Concise on Lake Neuchatel. On the contrary, when the soil was too soft, rough planks or frameworks of logs were fitted to the lower ends of the piles to prevent their sinking too low. The framework for the platform is a matter of conjecture, but deductions from the practices of historic and modem savages give an approximate idea of their construction. Among the P^onians on Lake Prasias, in Thrace, planks or slabs were fitted on the tops of piles out in the lake away from the shore, and a narrow causeway or bridge was the only entrance. When a new pile dwelling was projected, all the memlicrs of the tribe worked together. Afterwards when the men. who were polygamists, married they sank three piles for each wife, bringing the timber from ilount Orbelus. Each man had his own wooden hut on the platform with a trap-door opening to the water. The Indians of Lake Maracaibo set up piles of different lengths in pairs or leave a short crotch at the proper height. On the top of the shorter piles or projections rest the sills of the houses; and on the top of the longer piles rest the framework of the roof, and these are fastened together with rope or strong vines. The sills support the floor of straight poles or canes as close together as they can be placed, yet leaving air and dust spaces between. Tlic framework of the roof is of light wood or cane, and on these are fastened a thatch of palm-leaf, .ccess to the house from the water side is on a notched log for steps or ladder, or by means of dugout canoes. Being a warm country, there are no walls properly so called to the houses. .Artificial islands are erected close to the dwellings on which domestic animals and poultry are kept. Platforms extend outside of the roof, and on these are conveniences relating to domestic econ- omy, not omitting pigpens. Returning to the Swiss remains, the archs-