.DESCRIPTION OF THE REMAINS AT WAUWYL. 129 



well and badly cut. To drag the piles to the lake, and fix 

 them firmly, must have required much labor, especially 

 when their number is considered. At Wangen .alone M. 

 Lohle has calculated that 40,000 piles have been used; but 

 we must remember that these were probably not all planted 

 at one time, nor by one generation. Wangen, indeed, was cer- 

 tainly not built in a day, but was, no doubt, gradually en- 

 larged as the population increased. Herodotus informs us that 

 the Paeonians made the first platform at the public expense, 

 but that subsequently at every marriage (and polygamy was 

 permitted), the bridegroom was expected to add a certain 

 number of piles to the common support. In some localities, 

 as at Robenhausen, on Lake Pfaffikon, the piles were 

 strengthened by cross-beams. The pile- works of subsequent 

 periods differ little from those of the Stone age, so far at 

 least as can be judged by the parts remaining, but the piles 

 ;are less decayed, and project above the mud farther than :s 

 the case with those of the preceding epoch. 



Through the kindness of Col. Suter I had an opportunity 

 of examining the construction of the Lake-dwelling at Wau- 

 wyl, near Zofingen, in the Canton of Lucerne. This ap- 

 parently belonged to the Stone age, no trace of metal 

 having yet been discovered in it. It is situated in a peat 

 moss, which was evidently at one time the bed of a shallow 

 lake. By the gradual growth of peat, however, the level has 

 been raised several feet, and the plain has recently been 

 drained. We were assisted by six labourers, who dug out 

 the peat, which we then carefully examined. I mention this, 

 because the difference in the objects collected from different 

 Pfahlbauten, may probably be, in part at least, accounted for 

 by the different ways in which the search has been made. The 

 peat at Wauwyl varies in thickness from three to ten feet, 

 and rests on a white .bed consisting of broken, fresh- water 

 shells. This stratum, though only a few inches thick, is 



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