THE FIRST TRACES OF MAN IN EUROPE. 13 



B. c. 5000 are the Kjokken-modding * of Denmark, found at stations 

 adjacent to tlie sea, and consisting of immense collections of empty 

 mussel and oyster shells. Similar heaps are found in the United 

 States." The late Prof, von Mulot made careful studies of those of 

 Europe, and the reader is referred to his valuable works for details. 

 Comparatively barren as we have stated Switzerland to be in human 

 memorials of the two preceding eras, it is the land ricliest in those of 

 this age ; for to it belong the oldest of the pile-dwellings found in 

 most Swiss lakes and lacustrine peat-beds. 



They were first discovered at Meilun, on Lake Zurich, during the 

 winter of 1834-35, when the level of most Swiss lakes was exception- 

 ally low. Of course the mere existence of piles in our lakes had long 

 been known to fishermen, but their real meaning and their significance 

 for science was there first recognized by that keen-witted observer, 

 Dr. Ferdinand Keller, of Zurich. We can ofier nothing like an ade- 

 quate description of these remarkable lake-villages, and shall speak 

 of them only with reference to the indications they afibrd as to the 

 man of this as compared with that of former prehistoric periods. 



In addition to the rough-worked implements heretofore so abun- 

 dant, we now have smooth, even polished axes, etc., of various hard 

 stones, especially of greenstone, a term including diorite, syenite, 

 and the peculiar serpentine which the Italians call gabhro. These 

 axes were in various ways, and sometimes very ingeniously, attached 

 to bone, wood, or horn handles. Besides these larger articles are many 

 smaller ones, made of wood and horn, with arrow-tips and spear-heads 

 of flint, jasper, and rock-crystal, often made with remarkable skill 

 and carefulness of finish. 



With the Age of Reindeers ends the Diluvial period proper, of 

 which most of the characteristic animals, the reindeer among them, 

 were by this time extinct, or else had wandered to distant regions. 

 Hence the absence of their remains in later formations. Evidences of 

 the domestication of animals now appear for the first time. Pottery is 

 still rude and unburnt, but ornamented with odd stripes and rows of 

 dots. The pieces are mostly conical, the bottom being the truncated 

 point. No trace of writing, drawing, or sculpture, is to be found a 

 fact the more remarkable in view of the existence of the works of art 

 mentioned as beloncjinor to the precedinsc ag;e. 



The literature of the pile-dwellings is already quite extensive. 

 Keller, Desor, Ti-oyon, Morlot, and others, have written valuable man- 

 uals, while Heer and Riitimeyer have given in extenso the results of 

 their thorough study of the vegetable, animal, and human remains, 

 found in these curious habitations. 



Those of the age we are considering are found in the edges of many 



' Literally, Hicken-refuse-heaps. Translator. 



" They were capitally described in the American Naturalist for January, October, and 

 November, 1868. Trans. 



