The Lake-Dwellers of Switzerland. 153 



some influence upon them. "The whole of the pottery," say 

 our authors, "maybe divided into two classes, according to the 

 nature of the material, one, a coarser sort, made of clay mixed 

 with a large quantity of grains of stone; and a finer kind, made 

 of washed loam, in some cases mixed with a small quantity of 

 charcoal powder. The shape of the vessels in the older settle- 

 ments does not vary to any great extent. Urns with a large 

 bulge and thin sides are rare, very few flat vessels are found in 

 the shape of plates; as a general rule, the form approaches that of 

 a cylinder. With respect to ornamentation, ... it consists only 

 of bosses or impressions made either with the finger or a little 

 stick. On some specimens, worked with greater care, a com- 

 mencement of the zigzag ornaments may be seen; and some 

 also are painted with graphite and ruddle. It is very certain 

 that many of the large pots were used for cooking, for they 

 are covered on the outside with soot." 



The writers of this work very properly reject the theories 

 which endeavour to mark out the <c stone " and ' ' bronze " ages 

 as sharply defined. They see that improvements came gradu- 

 ally in old times as they do in new, and that transitions were 

 gradual as they are now. But as the lake-dwellers learnt 

 to cast bronze, and finally to work iron, they improved their 

 various arts, and the pottery associated with bronze imple- 

 ments bears marks of augmented skill and increasing tact.' 

 " Still, at this period no vessels are found artificially formed 

 with long narrow necks, like bottles, flasks, or jugs, which are 

 so abundant in Roman times." The numerous plates with 

 which this volume is illustrated contain a great many sketches 

 of potter's vessels, wrought by hand, not by a wheel, and ex- 

 hibiting the progress from rude shapes to elegant forms. 



A very curious kind of pottery was ornamented with plates 

 of tin, as thin as paper, which seem to have been pressed into 

 the earthenware while it was soft, and contrasted with the 

 black ground of the vessel so decorated. One of the plates 

 gives a picture of a round dish of this sort found at Cortaillod. 

 " The (tin) ornamentation consists of a rosette in the middle, 

 formed of quadrangles, which is surrounded by a band of a 



pattern similar to that called the meander The 



material is dark grey, blackened by graphite." 



In textile fabrics the lake-dwellers, evinced considerable 

 skill, and they arrived at the art of working by means 

 of some kind of loom. As the weaving together of twigs 

 for basket work bears a close resemblance to the weaving 

 of softer materials into cloth or net, we shall commence 

 with the former, and we learn that ropes or basket handles 

 of twisted willow twigs have been discovered. Mats have 

 likewise been found of bark, varying in the complexity 



