172 On the Ancient Lake Habitations of Switzerland. 



were noticed to run in a parallel direction with the shore, and 

 about 100 yards distant from it ; but no investigation of 

 their true nature was made until 1853. 



In consequence of the dryness of the winter of 1853-4, the 

 Swiss lakes and rivers sank lower than had ever been pre- 

 viously known ; and the inhabitants of Meilen, on the Lake of 

 Zurich, availed themselves of the opportunity to recover a piece 

 of ground from the lake, by raising its level with mud taken 

 from the neighbouring shallows. Whilst excavating, they dis- 

 covered a number of wooden piles, deeply driven into the bed 

 of the lake, formed of the stems of oaks, beech, birch, and fir 

 trees. The mud among these piles contained a great mass of 

 reliques, consisting of numerous bones of animals, all of which 

 had been cut, broken, or gnawed, and the marrow extracted ; 

 hammers, corn- crushers, a great variety of axes and celts, of i 

 various kinds of stone, many of which were fitted into hafts of 

 stag's-horn. Flint implements were also numerous, which is 

 the more remarkable, as flint is rarely found in that country. 

 Large slabs of stone, which had been used as hearth-stones, 

 were also noticed. One amber bead was found, which, it is 

 supposed, must have been brought from the shores of the 

 Baltic. One or two hatchets and wedges of jade have also 

 been met with, the material for which, it has been asserted, 

 could only have been obtained from the East. Bat it seems 

 much more probable that both these substances were occa- 

 sionally, although very rarely, found in Switzerland or the 

 south of France, rather than (as has been proposed by some 

 archaeologists) to suggest that this ancient race trafficked Nvith 

 northern and eastern tribes to obtain axes of jade or ornaments , 

 of amber. Pottery occurred in abundance, but always in a very 

 fragmentary state. It was hand-made, and of a rude and 

 coarse description. Masses of charred wood, apparently parts 

 of the platform of the building, were abundant. Indeed, it was 

 evident that not only this settlement, but the great majority of 

 those subsequently found, perished by fire. Since the first 

 discovery of pile-works at Meilm, the Swiss archaeologists have 

 displayed untiring industry in exploring fresh localities, and 

 not only in lakes Constance, (Jeneva, Neuchatel, Bienne/ 1 ' 

 Znrichj Moral, Sempach, but also in the smaller lakes of 

 Inkwijl, PfeffikOBj MOOSSeedoifj and Lnissel, similar lake- 

 duellings hare been discovered. 



The earliest pile-works, those belonging to the Stone age, 

 present a very rude appearance, the stakes having been sharp- 

 ened bv stono hatchets, assisted by fire. Fire was, no doubt, 



* Eleven settlements have been found on t lio Lake of Bienne, twenty-six on 

 the Lakeof Neuchatel, twenty-four on the Lake of Geneva, and sixteen on the 

 Lake of Constance. 



