SOCIETY OP THK UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN. 4o 



period. In the Stone age the bones of the animals, used doubtless as 

 food, are mostly those of wild animals, whilst in the bronze settlements 

 those of domesticated animals, cattle, sheep, etc., are more numerous, 

 showing in the latter case a considerable advance in civilisation. Re- 

 mains of charred grain are also found in considerable abundance in 

 settlements of the Bronze age, sparingly in those of the Stone age, 

 contrasting in this respect with what we have already seen to be the 

 case in Denmark. 



Several attempts have been made to estimate as definitely as 

 possible in years the antiquity of the Bronze and Stone ages. Here is 

 one of these. At the mouth of a stream falling into the Lake of Gen- 

 eva a small delta composed of gravel and sand has been formed to 

 which the stream makes annual additions of fine layers of soil. A 

 railway cutting has been made through part of this delta disclosing 

 its internal structure. The regularity of its structure throughout 

 implies that it has been formed very gradually and by the same causes. 

 Three distinct layers of vegetable soil have been cut through at differ- 

 ent depths, each of which formed the surface of the delta in turn. The 

 first of these is about 4 feet from the present surface, the second 

 10 feet, and the third 19 to 20 feet. The upper layer contained Roman 

 tiles and a coin of the Roman period, thus fixing the date of this 

 layer. In the second layer were found fragments of unvarnished 

 pottery and a pair of bronze tweezers indicating- the Bronze period, 

 and in the third layer were fragments of rude pottery, pieces of char- 

 coal, broken bones and a human skeleton having a small, round and 

 very thick skull, corresponding to the Stone epoch. Now assuming 

 the Roman period to represent an antiquity of from sixteen to eighteen 

 centuries, a calculation would assign to the Bronze age a date of be- 

 tween 3,000 to 4,000 years, and to the Stone age of from 5,000 to 7,000 

 years. These ages are only relative. 



Another mode of calculation is based upon the rate at which a 

 lake is receding from the shore by the constant deposition of sediment 

 brought down by the rivers. Some of the settlements mentioned 

 above are situated in marshes a long way from the lake they are con- 



