lOO A SUPPOSED NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT. 



as in Holland, in Brittany, and Switzerland, and with them are 

 associated relics of the stone-age, while the dwelling-places 

 themselves continueLl to be occupied in later times. At Skitts 

 Hill an artificial floor was raised above the level of the water. 

 This floor was carefully formed by mixing together clay, sand, 



Fig. 4. Diagram of suggested method of shaping wooden stakes. 



gravel-stones, brown mottled clay, and chalky boulder-clay, 

 forming a mixture wdiich could only be produced by human 

 contrivance and human hands. To support and secure this arti- 

 ficial concretion, wooden stakes were driven into the ballast of 

 the lake or river. Outside the raised platform there was still 

 water, in which the peaty mud has accumulated until it has 

 levelled all up ; and it was, no doubt, into this water which 

 surrounded the floor on which the huts were built that numerous 

 relics fell, or were swept by the dwellers. So large was the 

 quantity of wood and other material used to construct this plat- 

 form, that in the course of years some tons have been dug out 

 by Mr. Brown's workmen, and afterwards returned to fill up the 

 excavations. The distance of the platform to the land was 

 about 10 feet ; I measured it as nearly as I could. In one 



Fig, 5. End of pointed stake, probably made in the manner mentioned 

 in text. One-fourth natural size. 



instance, an oak tree had its stem, without root, about 15 feet 

 long, set towards the land, as though to form a gangway. 



The artificial relics found at this level belong to an age prior 

 to the use of metal. [? Ed.] The method employed for splitting 

 and parting the timber into lengths shows the use of bone or 



