July i, 1922] 



NA TURE 



1 



of these islands ? Did they communicate with one 

 another by bridges or by navigable canals ? If so, 

 what were the measurements and arrangement of 

 these bridges or canals ? 



What was the form of the dwellings ? Those 

 authors who have attempted to reconstruct groups 

 of lake dwellings have differed remarkably in their 

 attempts. These diversities show how little solid 

 basis there is for our knowledge in this matter, not- 

 withstanding the evidence from sites such as Schiissen- 

 ried, Robenhausen, Niederwil, etc. Was the settlement 

 protected against the waves caused by prevailing 

 winds by some projecting construction — it may be 

 assumed, a stockade of piles ? 



3. Do the most important of the articles in daily 

 use by the inhabitants of the lake dwellings in the 



tions on sites which are always submerged. The 

 diving bell alone can be used. It is for this reason 

 that the persistent drought at the beginning of the 

 year 1921 has proved so favourable to research. 



Let us now consider the results which were obtained 

 in the course of recent investigation. 



Very few human skeletal remains of neolithic age 

 were found ; but an important discovery was made 

 at St. Aubin. In the lowest stratum of this site, 

 which -is the oldest of the Swiss neolithic lake-dwellings, 

 M. Vouga found a human cranium, which was sent to 

 me. It is unquestionably dolichocephalic. This is 

 the first piece of definite evidence of this character. 

 Does it affect previous hypotheses as to the race of 

 the builders of the lake-dwellings ? I do not think 

 on such slender evidence we can maintain that it does. 



L: 



■tor 



Fig. 2. — Part of tin-' Neolithic site at Greng, Lake of Marat. 



neolithic period date from the beginning of lake 

 settlements ? Were the various types of objects 

 which are exhibited in the cases of our museums 

 invented at different ages in accordance with the 

 growth of needs, or were they in use in the earliest 

 period ? This question can be settled finally only by 

 stratigraphical study. 



4. Were the five domesticated animals of the neo- 

 lithic period (the ox, the dog, the pig, the goat, and 

 the sheep) present in the earliest period of the lake 

 dwellings, or may we accept the suggestions put forward 

 by various authors that these domestic animals were 

 introduced gradually during the age of polished stone ? 



These are a few of the questions which still await an 

 answer, notwithstanding the numerous investigations 

 which have been undertaken since the memorable 

 winter of 1853-54. The solution of these problems 

 is naturally very difficult owing to the nature of the 

 ground upon which investigations have to be carried 

 out. It is not easy to make stratigraphical observa- 



NO. 2748, VOL. I io] 



The skull in question is feminine, from which fact 

 we may conclude that it belonged to an inhabitant of 

 the site at St. Aubin and not to a foreigner, whose 

 head might perhaps have been brought home as a 

 trophy of war. The discovery, however, is of import- 

 ance, because it was made in the course of investiga- 

 tions on stratigraphical lines. It is not a skull un- 

 earthed at hazard from the mud or sand. It was 

 in situ. 



In the course of the spring and the summer of 1921, 

 two detailed topographical surveys were made — one, 

 at my suggestion, at Greng in the Lake of Morat (Figs. 

 1 and 2) by MM. Le Rover and Winkler, the other on 

 the foreshore of Geneva. This is the first time that 

 any work of this character has been undertaken in 

 Switzerland. The station at Greng was not com- 

 pletely surveyed. A record was made of the position 

 of those piles only which were left uncovered by the 

 fall of the lake and of those which were in shallow water. 

 At Geneva, work of considerable extent was undertaken 



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