STRUCTURE OF THE HUTS. 125 



lakes, as well as in several of the smaller ones (Inkwyl, 

 Pfeffikon, Moosseedorf, Luissel, etc), similar Lake-habitations 

 have been discovered. In the larger lakes, indeed, not one, 

 but many of these settlements existed; thus, there are 

 already on record, in Lake Bienne, twenty ; in the Lake of 

 Geneva, twenty-four; in Lake Constance, thirty-two; in Lake 

 Neufchatel, as many as forty- six ; on the whole more than 

 two hundred ; and many others, doubtless, remain to be dis- 

 covered. Of those already known, some few belong to the 

 Iron age, and even to Roman times ; but the greater num- 

 ber appear to be divided in almost equal proportions between 

 the age of Stone and that of Bronze. 



The dwellings of the Gauls are described as having been 

 circular huts, built of wood and lined with mud. The huts 

 of the Pileworks were probably of a similar nature. This 

 supposition is not a mere hypothesis, but is confirmed by the 

 preservation of pieces of the clay used for the lining. Their 

 preservation is evidently due to the building having been 

 destroyed by fire, which has hardened the clay, and enabled 

 it to resist the dissolving action of the water. These frag- 

 ments bear, on one side, the marks of interlaced branches, 

 while on the other, which apparently formed the inner wall 

 of the cabin, they are quite smooth. Some of those which 

 have been found at "Wangen are so large and so regular, 

 that M. Troy on feels justified in concluding that the cabins 

 were circular, and from ten to fifteen feet in diameter. 

 Though the architecture of this period was very simple, 

 still the weight to be sustained on the wooden platforms 

 must have been considerable ; and their construction, which 

 must have required no small labor,* indicates a large 

 population. It would, indeed, be most interesting if we 

 could construct a retrospective census for these early periods, 



* " Increasing density of population production." Bastiat, Harmonies of 

 is equivalent to increasing facility of Political (Economy, p. 12. 



