664 



NATURE 



{Oct. 24, 1878 



attracted by an unknown object, since in that part of the 

 sky there is no star which could be visible as they describe 

 it. It is significant that Regulus, upwards of 12° from 

 the sun's place, was only noticed as "a glimpse-star" at 

 St. Paul's Junction. J. R. Hind 



LAKE DWELLINGS 



The Lake Dwellings of Swiizerlajid and other Pa?-ls of 

 Europe. By Dr. Ferdinand Keller. Second edition, 

 greatly enlarged. Translated and Arranged by John 

 Edward Lee, F.S.A., F.G.S. Two vols. (London: 

 Longmans. 1878.) 



TT is ten years since the first edition of Dr. Keller's 

 •*- valuable work was published, and since that time 

 vast additions have been made to a knowledge of 

 the subject of which it treats. Mr. Lee, besides in- 

 corporating in the present edition the whole of Dr. 

 Keller's Seventh Report, gives short accounts of every 

 lake settlement that has been investigated ; and an idea 

 of the progress that has been made in this department 

 may be learned from the fact that in the first edition 

 the number of objects drawn and described numbered 

 about 1,500, whereas in the present edition they number 

 between two and three thousand. 



The second volume, a thick one, is entirely occupied 

 ■with illustrations of the portions of lake dwellings that 

 have been found, of the situations in which the remains 

 exist, and of the multitude of objects that have been 

 collected in situ. As a frontispiece to the first volume is 

 given an illustration of a restored lake dwelling, M-hich 

 nestling near the shore of a Swiss lake, in a picturesque 

 situation, backed by trees and overtopped by lofty moun- 

 tains, makes a very pleasant picture. Over the fence 

 which surrounds the edge of the platform we see the 

 sloping roofs of the huts built thereon, and out in the 

 lake two boats fishing by means of nets. There is some 

 difficulty, it seems, as to the question of windows, Mr. 

 Lee contending that the huts must have contained these, 

 as the inhabitants would often have to work at their flint 

 implements by the side of the fire. But we scarcely 

 think windows necessary on this account ; we have 

 frequently seen the peasants in Scotland, in the long 

 winter evenings, carry on knitting and other even more 

 delicate work by the light of the fire or at most with the 

 addition of a lighted spill of resinous pine. On the whole, 

 however, Mr. Lee's restoration is likely to be a pretty 

 close approximation to reality, to judge from the mass of 

 data collected in Dr. Keller' s work. 



After an introduction describing the various forms of 

 lake dwellings, the methods used in collecting the relics, 

 on the original discovery of the dwellings, and a few 

 sensible remarks on the ages of stone, bronze, and iron, 

 each of the lakes in which dwellings have been found is 

 treated of separately, the nature of the remains described, 

 and an attempt made to realise the actual nature of the 

 original work. Sections, for there are no chapters, are 

 devoted to the discussion of special objects found and of 

 special points and circumstances connected with the 

 structures, the life and habits of the builders, and the 

 environment generally. One of the most interesting sec- 

 tions is that on the Geographical Distribution of Lake 

 Dwellings, from which we see that they have been found 



in many other places besides Switzerland— in Germany, 

 Austria, France, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Mr. Lee 

 rightly includes under the general head of Lake Dwellings 

 the Crannoges of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales ; for 

 although those of Ireland at least were in several im- 

 portant respects different from the structures found on 

 the Continent, still they have several strong points of 

 resemblance. The reason for the choice of site was no 

 doubt pretty much the same — security from sudden 

 attack. Remains of lake-dwellings have even been found 

 in the heart of London, in the peaty marsh where Fins- 

 bury now stands, and where, "in Romano-British times* 

 some outcast natives lived." Gen. Lane Fox describes 

 these remains in the Anthropological Review for April, 

 1867. Dr. Keller has always been adverse to the idea of 

 lake-dwellings having been circular ; but just when the 

 English work was completed, Mr. Lee tells us that the 

 author sent him word of remains of an undoubted cir- 

 cular dwelling having been found at Fang, in the Lake of 

 Morat. Very interesting are the sections by Prof. Oswald 

 Heer on the plants of the lake-dwellings, and by Prof. 

 Riitimeyer on the animals. 



From the mass of data which has been collected, Dr. 

 Keller gives a very clear account of the general form of 

 these lake settlements, and of the different varieties 

 under which they may be classed. As to the substruc- 

 ture, first of all of pile dwellings, which are by far the 

 most numerous in the lakes of Switzerland and Upper 

 Italy. Piles of various kinds of wood sometimes split, 

 but in general mere stems with the bark on, sharpened 

 sometimes by fire, sometimes by stone hatchets or celts, 

 and in later times by, tools of bronze and probably of 

 iron, were driven into the shallows of the lakes, provided 

 they were not rocky, at various distances from the shores. 

 Sometimes the piles were close together, sometimes wide 

 apart. On the level tops of the piles were laid the beams, 

 which were sometimes fastened by wooden pins and 

 sometimes let into mortises cut in the heads of the piles. 

 Sometimes the vertical piles were strengthened by 

 cross timbers below the platform beams. Generally the 

 platform itself consisted of one or two parallel layers, 

 and was of very rude structure, though sometimes the 

 stems were split and joined together with some approach 

 to accuracy. The distance from shore seems to have 

 varied considerably ; but it is curious that when a lake 

 dwelling had been inhabited both in the stone and bronze 

 ages, that part evidently used in the bronze age is fre- 

 quently further from the shore and deeper in the lake 

 than that which belongs to the age of stone. Otherwise, 

 nearly the same mode of construction prevailed in the 

 pile-dwellings during the ages of stone, bronze, and iron. 

 In some cases, at least, there is evidence that the 

 dwellings were connected with the shore by a narrow 

 platform or bridge, formed also of piles. In certain 

 cases, also, it is seen that artificial elevations Were made 

 on the bed of the lake by piles of stones [brought in 

 boats; one of these boats, still loaded with stones, is 

 to be seen at Peters Island, on the Lake of Bienne. 

 The stones must have been put down after the piles had 

 been driven* more or less deeply into the mud. 



Certain forms, known as frame-pile dwellings, have 

 been found in the Lake of Ziirich. In this form the 

 piles, instead of having been driven into the mud of the 



