568 REPORT—1883. 
horizontal timbers were laid apparently without any definite arrangement, and the 
spaces between them were filled up with broken twigs, bark, and the chippings cut 
from the piles, until a level surface was obtained above the surface of the water of 
the lake. On this the builders probably erected their domiciles, though no trace of 
them remains at the present time. Above the surface of broken twigs and bark 
there has been an accumulation of 3 feet of peat and about 1 foot of warp and soil, 
so that the base of the dwelling is about 6 feet above the bed of the ancient lake, 
and 8 to 4 feet below the present surface of the ground, the whole being about 
10 feet in thickness. During the excavations numerous objects have been found 
which throw light on the habits of the people who erected and occupied the 
dwellings—rounded stone implements, probably used for pounding grain, stone 
axes and hammers, worked smooth and pierced for the introduction of a handle. 
Several large bones, probably the femur or humerus of the cow, have been broken 
in two diagonally across the shaft, and a hole drilled through near the joint, into 
which a stick was inserted, forming.implements which may have been used for 
breaking up the land. The antlers of the red deer were in all probability used for 
a similar purpose, and several have been found. Numerous pieces of pottery have 
been discovered ; they are of a British type. A single bronze spear-head has been 
found, and a few examples of flint implements. 
It may be inferred, from the remains found during excavation and the character 
of the portion of the dwellings which remains, that the people were devoted to ~ 
agricultural pursuits, that the dwellings were erected a short distance from the 
edge of the lake for protection against wild animals rather than for defence against 
human foes, and that their implements of hone were well adapted for working in 
the light sandy or warpy soils which occupied the higher ground rising from the 
border of the lake. , 
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25. 
1. The Influence of Town Life on Stature. By J. Park Harrison, M.A. 
_ _ From a comparison of the average stature of the population in towns of 5,000 
inhabitants and upwards with that of pure country folk in the British Isles, the 
Anthropometric Committee in 1881 found that town life affects stature to a far less 
extent than had been before supposed. 
The author has extracted from the tables in the above Report the average 
stature of artisans in towns of the ages of twenty-five to thirty-tive, and those of 
country labourers of the same age; on comparing them, the difference is 0°92 inches 
in favour of the country folk.,' 
_ _ Stature has been found to be low in Bristol; ? but if the average stature of the 
inhabitants of that town is compared with that of the nearest county from which 
there are a sufficient number of observations—viz. Somersetshire—then the 
respective statures are found to be 5 feet 5:77 inches and 5 feet 6:30 inches, the 
difference being ‘55, on 300 and 447 observations. It is therefore probable if a 
larger number of observations of stature from Edinburgh and Glasgow were 
obtained, the average stature in those cities would prove to be higher than 5 feet 
6:35 inches, , 
The stature of the townsfolk in Sheffield is low, not so much, apparently, owing 
to town life, as the unhealthy occupation of the population ; and lastly, London, 
where the stature, from 259 observations, comes out higher than that in Herts, 
Middlesex, and Surrey, but slightly lower than Essex or Kent,’ requires far more 
extensive returns before any safe conclusion can be arrived at regarding the average 
stature of the inhabitants. 
1 The term includes railway guards and porters. 
? Report Anthropometric Committee, 1883. 3 Thid. 
