J. Lubbock on the Ancient Lake Habitations of Switzerland. 1 03 



water in the lakes fell mucli below its ordinary level, so that in 

 some places a broad strand was left uncovered along the margin, 

 while 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 Stiifa was that of 

 1674, but in 1854 the water sank a foot lower. These unusual 

 conditions, though very unfavorable to navigation, enabled the 

 Swiss Arch^ologists to make the important discoveries which we 

 are about to bring before our readers. 



the bed of the lake, "certain indica- 

 ich he justly supposed might 

 I the history and condition of the earliest ] 

 tants of the Swiss valleys. In a small bay between Ober Meilen 

 and DoUikon, the inhabitants took 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. The researches at this place con- 

 ducted and described by Dr. F. Keller, have been followed by 

 similar investigations in other lakes, and have proved that the 

 early inhabitants of Switzerland constructed some, at least, of 

 their dwellings above the surface of the water, as is done in the 

 present day by savages in various countries, as for instance the 

 i^apous of New Guinea, whose huts, circular or square in form, 

 j^re grouped on wooden platforms, elevated a few feet above the 



«^'el of the water, supported by numerous piles driven into the 

 ^ua and connected with the land by a narrow ridge. 

 . ^"is method of construction, indications of which are found 

 led by Her- 



1, in Thrace, 



_._ _^„, „ ^ platform, supported above the 



jvater by great piles. Each cabin had a trap-door opening on to 



i^e ake, and the whole settlement communicated with the mam 

 land by a bridge. 



J^he Swiss '' Pfahlhauten:' or lake habitations, have been de- 

 scribed by M. Keller, in three memoirs presented to the Antiqua- 

 Jjati Society of Zurich, in 1854, 1858, and 1860, and by M. 

 |.^oyon, in a special work, " Sur les Habitation Lacustres, 

 ;^*>0, in which the author gives a general account of what^has 

 p^^^ done in Switzerland, and compares the result obtained in 



'S native land, with the lake dwellings of other countries and 

 ^inies. The discoveries in Lake Moosseedorf have been described 

 ''^ a special paper by MM. Jahn and Uhlmann(Die Pfahlbaual- 



^rtliutner von Moosseedorf Bern, 1857); and we owe to M, 



