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CHAPTER V. 



THE AKCIENT LAKE-HABITATIONS OF SWITZERLAND. 



IN consequence of the extraordinary dryness and coldness 

 of the weather during the winter months of 1853, 

 the rivers of Switzerland did not receive their usual 

 supplies, and the water in the lakes fell much below its 

 ordinary level, so that, in some places, a broad strand was 

 left uncovered along the ftiargin, tvhile in others shallow 

 banks were converted into islands. The water level of this 

 season was, indeed, the lowest upon record. The lowest level 

 marked on the so-called stone of Stafa was that of 1674; 

 but in 1854 the water sank a foot. 



M. Aeppli of Meilen, on the Lake of Zurich, appears to 

 have been the first to observe in the bed of the lake certain 

 specimens of human workmanship, which he justly supposed 

 might throw some light on the history and condition of the 

 early inhabitants of the Swiss valleys. In a small bay 

 between Ober Meilen and Dollikon, the inhabitants had 

 taken advantage of the lowness of the water to increase 

 their gardens, by building a wall along the new water-line, 

 and slightly raising the level of the piece thus reclaimed, by 

 mud dredged from the lake. In the course of this dredging 

 they found great numbers of piles, of deer-horns, and also 

 some implements. Fortunately the attention of Dr. Keller 

 was called to these remains, and the researches at Meilen, 

 conducted and described by him, have been followed by 

 similar investigations in other lakes, and have proved that 



