LECTURE XII. 363 



crannags in Ireland^ of which, we possess a sample in the 

 small lake of Inkwyl, near Solothurn, which were used for 

 fishing and festivals^ but rarely for habitations. Some of the 

 pile-works were no doubt inhabited, at least during a certain 

 period; subsequently they were perhaps, as Desor surmises, 

 used as provision stores. Desor remarks : " It is only neces- 

 sary to look at the objects found in any station to be convinced 

 that they have not been wilfully thrown into the water. Pots 

 filled with provisions are found in some spots, which have 

 neither fallen in accidentally, nor come there in consequence 

 of an attack on the proprietors, for in the latter case we should 

 find some human remains. The bronze articles are nearly 

 new, the pots entire, the provisions well arranged, and accord- 

 ing to the opinion of experienced explorers, a rich booty is 

 only obtained where the piles are burnt. These places were 

 thus probably magazines which were burnt accidentally ; and 

 the habitations constructed of brushwood and clay, one of which 

 was found on the Ebersberg near Zurich, were in the vicinity 

 of the land." 



I must confess, gentlemen, that since I have visited the 

 North, this view seems to me much more probable than the 

 habitation theory. In the North, the water is the high way. 

 The populations dwelling on the Fjords hold intercourse by 

 way of water, the stores stand upon piles, and the merchandise 

 is transferred to the boats and ships from these stores. The 

 fishermen and the Lapps, who frequently come from a consi- 

 derable distance, cook, eat, and sleep upon the wooden piers 

 which surround these stores. It is not improbable that, at 

 the earliest period, the conditions were similar in Switzer- 

 land. Most of the roads along the lakes have only been made 

 very recently, so that even down to our own century the inha- 

 bitants of the shores could only hold communication by means 

 of boats. 



It is very possible to trace in the industry and the whole 

 condition of these pile populations a progressive civilisation. 

 Thus the implements on the lake of Constance are very rude 

 and clumsy in shape, whilst some of the objects of Concise 

 will bear comparison with some of the best finished articles 



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