PREHISTORIC KITCHEN-MIDDENS. 133 
uniform plan was adopted. Having selected a suitable site, 
always four-sided and orientated, but, of course, varying in 
size according to the requirements of the community, the 
constructors proceeded to surround it with a ditch, the 
excavated material being thrown up in the form of a dyke 
on the inner side. The area thus enclosed was then thickly 
planted with stakes, the tops of which were brought to a 
common level, and over them a wooden platform was laid. 
On this platform cottages made of light timbers and clay 
were erected. Thus, in a very simple manner, was con- 
structed a fortified village, access to which was secured by 
one or more wooden bridges spanning the surrounding ditch. 
The vacant space beneath the common platform became 
a convenient receptacle for all sorts of refuse, including lost 
and worn-out objects of industry. When, in the course of 
time, this space became filled up, the Terramaricoli, in order 
to avoid the labour of having to remove the débris which 
would otherwise accumulate around them, adopted the 
ingenious method of constructing a brand new platform 
above the former. It seems that a preliminary step to the 
carrying out of this project was to set fire to the entire 
village, thus at one cowp getting clear of all sanitary 
difficulties, as well as of a number of uninvited guests. 
Having thus started with a clean bill of health, they elevated 
the dyke to the requisite height, and planted stakes, as 
formerly, for the support of the new platform and huts— 
the stakes in this case penetrating only into the accumulated 
rubbish of the former village. This mode of procedure 
appears to have been repeated over and over again, until, in 
the course of ages, the successive deposits accumulated to a 
height of 15 or 20 feet. 
The industrial remains found in these mounds show that 
the Terramaricoli flourished in the early Bronze Age. That 
the weaving of cloth was largely practised by them is 
proved by the extraordinary variety and abundance of: 
loom-weights and spindle-whorls which were collected from 
the débris, They made buttons of terra cotta, horn, and 
bone ; as well as pins, combs, and other objects of the two 
latter materials and bronze. Wood was used in the manu- 
facture of handles, dishes, spoons, flooring, agricultural 
