14 The Primitive Inhabitants 



bones have been found. There are no traces of sudden 

 change. From first to last the villages appear to have 

 been constructed upon the same plan, and the mode of 

 life in them appears to have been substantially the same. 

 The earliest bronze implements appear to have been 

 cast after the model of those of stone in use, and new 

 forms adopted with increased knowledge of the capabil- 

 ities of metal. So, too, the earliest iron weapons ap- 

 pear to have been wrought into the shape of bronze 

 castings, and only later advantage was taken of the 

 malleable property of iron. The progress of these 

 people was gradual, and has every indication of having 

 been continuous. Hence, as we know the inhabitants 

 of these villages were, in their latter days, what is called 

 Celtic, we may reasonably infer that the lake settlements 

 were from the first of Celtic origin. 



There is, however, one consideration which I have 

 not seen presented, which might be urged in favor of 

 the theory that the introduction of bronze came with a 

 new immigrant race. In many of the settlements have 

 been found horned or crescent-shaped objects, the pur- 

 pose of which is not known. Mr. Keller plausibly sug- 

 gests that they were connected with the Druidical wor- 

 ship of the moon. Now, these relics are not found in 

 the earlier settlements of the stone age; they are only 

 found where bronze instruments are also found. If 

 the supposition of Mr. Keller is correct, then these ob- 

 jects tend to indicate the presence of a new religious 

 worship cotemporaneous with the introduction of the 

 use of metal. And the cotemporaneous introduction 

 of both would favor the opinion that they were also co- 

 temporaneous with the incoming of a new race. 



