WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS OF THE LAKE-DWELLERS. 131 



which, seems to have been the floor on which the huts were 

 erected, and the beams of which are still perfectly preserved. 

 It was at first a question in what manner the platforms at 

 this place were supported; whether they rested like a raft 

 on the surface of the water, rising and sinking with it ; or 

 whether they were fixed, and rested on a sort of artificial 

 island, formed by the clay, branches, etc., which now occupy 

 the interspaces between the different platforms. Subsequent 

 observations, however, confirmed as they have been by dis- 

 coveries elsewhere, as for instance, at Inkwyl and Niederwyl, 

 have decided the question in favor of the latter hypothesis. 



During my visit to Wauwyl we obtained four small stone 

 axes, one arrow-head, forty flint flakes, fifteen rude stone 

 hammers, eight whetstones, thirty- FIG. 120. 



three slingstones, eight instruments 

 of bone, and two of wood, besides 

 numerous bones, and a great quantity 

 of broken pottery. Col. Suter re- 

 garded this as a fair average day's 

 work. Altogether, about 350 instru- 

 ments of stone and bone have been 

 discovered at Wauwyl \. at Moossee- 

 dorf more than 1,300, at Wangen 

 more than 2,000, while M. Troyon 

 estimates that those at Concise must 

 have amounted to 25,000. 



The axe was pre-eminently the 

 implement of antiquity. It was 

 used in war and in the chase, as 

 well as for domestic purposes, and Swiss stone Axe - 



great numbers have been found, especially at Wangen (Lake 

 of Constance) and Concise (Lake of Neufchatel). With a few 

 exceptions, they were small, especially when compared with 

 the magnificent specimens from Denmark ; in length they 



