CONDITION OF THE OBJECTS FOUND. 191 



bathed by the water, are generally covered by a layer of 

 carbonate of lime, while the lower part which has sunk into 

 the mud is quite unaltered. M. Troyon once obtained at 

 Cortaillod a pair of bracelets in one haul of the dredge the 

 first, which had been visible from the boat, was greenish and 

 covered with incrustation ; the second, which had been in the 

 mud immediately below, was as fresh as if it had only just 

 been made. 



As piles of the Bronze Age are sometimes found at a depth 

 of as much as fifteen feet, and as it is manifest that buildings 

 cannot have been constructed over water much deeper than 

 this, it is evident that the Swiss lakes cannot then have stood 

 at a much higher level than at present. This conclusion is 

 confirmed by the position of Eoman remains at Thonon, on 

 the Lake of Geneva, and we thus obtain satisfactory evidence 

 that the height of the Swiss lakes must have remained almost 

 unaltered for a very long period. 



In the large lakes the passing traveller may readily mark 

 the number and general distribution of the piles, he may 

 determine the area which they occupy, and pick up fragments 

 of bone and pottery; but, on the whole, the peat- mosses are 

 more instructive. In them we not only obtain evidence as to 

 the size, form, and construction of the huts, but implements 

 of wood, specimens of fruit, nuts, grain, and even fragments 

 of clothing, none of which can be preserved in the open water 

 of the large lakes. 



After having chosen a favourable situation, the first step 

 in the construction of the Lake- habitations was to obtain the 

 necessary timber. To cut down a tree with a stone hatchet 

 must have been no slight undertaking. It is, indeed, most 

 probable that use was made of fire, in the same manner as 

 is done by existing savages in felling trees and making canoes. 

 Burning the wood and then scraping away the charred portion 

 renders the task far more easy, and the men of the Stone period 



