LAKE-DWELLINGS. 97 



with punched lines of divers patterns. The pottery of this period, though made 

 without the application of the lathe, is superior to that of preceding times. It 

 is obvious that the men of the bronze age, who showed so much appreciation of 

 art, were considerably advanced in culture, when compared with the stone-using 

 people hitherto considered. Some observations on bronze-age civilization, as it 

 appears in a special district of Europe, will be made in the following section. 



LAKE-DWELLINGS. 



Character. — The bronze-yielding lake-settlements of Switzerland were gen- 

 erally of greater extent than those of the preceding period, and, being farther 

 distant from the shore, stood in deeper water. The piles supporting the platform 

 were split stems, from five to six inches or more in thickness, and pointed with 

 bronze hatchets. The huts, it seems, resembled in their construction those of 

 the stone-age colonies. As for the occupation of the lake-men of this period, it 

 may be safely inferred that, like their predecessors, they were agriculturists, 

 hunters, and fishers. They cultivated the cereals previously mentioned, and, 

 in addition, oats, which, however, only appears at the stations of later date. 

 They probably used deer-horn or wooden hoes for preparing the ground, and, 

 perhaps, employed a plough of simple form. To the list of animals already 

 domesticated in the preceding period must be added a pony-like horse and a 

 dog somewhat larger than that of the earlier settlements ; there are also traces 

 of a smaller species of dog. They hunted the wild boar, stag, roe, and brown 

 bear. The first-named of these animals still existed in large numbers, as its 

 bones testify, while the stag appears less frequently than in former times. 

 Remains of the hare are wanting, probably because, as formerly, it was not eaten, 

 owing to superstitious motives. The ibex, elk, urus, and bison were not as much 

 hunted as in the eai'lier period, having, perhaps, farther retreated from the 

 abodes of man. The bones of domesticated animals found on the sites of the 

 bronze-age pile-works outnumber those of the wild species, a fact which would 

 indicate a decline in hunting and a more vigorous application to husbandry. 

 Fishing evidently was eagerly pursued, as I shall have occasion to show. 



The bronze tools and implements in use among the lake-people were celts or 

 hatchets of every description, hammers with sockets for the insertion of crooked 

 handles, chisels, gouges, knives (often of elegant form, the blades being curved 

 in the direction of a wave-line), razors, sickles (designed to be provided with 

 wooden handles)*, fish-hooks, sewing-needles, and engraving-instruments. 

 Among the weapons are to be mentioned leaf-shaped, short-handled swords and 



* Some of these handles have been found, which are carved with great ingenuity to fit the grip of the hand. 



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