82 Chronicles of Science. [Jan., 



of the superstructure very little is known, except that the huts 

 were rectangular, and that each one was provided with a hearth 

 consisting of three or four large slahs of stone. There are some 

 peculiarities in the distribution of these dwellings which deserve 

 notice ; for instance, fascine-dwellings " occur chiefly in the smaller 

 lakes, and apparently belong to the Stone age," while many of the 

 pile-dwellings have been inhabited in the Stone, Bronze, and Iron 

 ages. Crannoges have been found chiefly, if not entirely, in Ire- 

 land and Scotland, and they appear to have been chieftains' forts, 

 and fastnesses for occasional retreat, while the Swiss lake-dwellings 

 were places of permanent habitation for families and tribes. The 

 latter were placed at a greater or less distance from the shore, and 

 their site appears to have been determined by such circumstances 

 as would be appreciated by people enjoying a peaceful existence, 

 " as even the earliest settlers were not only fishermen and hunters, 

 but also shepherds and agriculturists." It also appears that they 

 were traders, even in the Stone age, for such a material as nephrite 

 could only have been obtained by barter, as it does not occur in 

 Europe ; while in later times they must have procured iron by the 

 same means. They apparently clothed themselves with hides and 

 skins, as well as with plaited and woven flax, and it seems probable 

 that they had a religion, for Dr. Keller infers certain figures of the 

 crescent moon to have been objects of worship from the earliest 

 period. We have no space to trace the advance of civilization 

 amongst the lake-dwellers during the supposed successive periods 

 of Stone, Bronze, and Iron ; but we have said enough to draw atten- 

 tion to the subject, which is illustrated with extraordinary com- 

 pleteness by the discoveries described in Dr. Keller's work, and we 

 therefore leave it, with the question of the existence of the lake- 

 dwellings so late as the Gallo-Koman period, to be discussed by the 

 antiquary and the ethnologist. 



The Crannoges of Ireland and Scotland were built on shallows 

 or islands, and, as already remarked, appear to have been places 

 of retreat, thus indicating a great contrast in the habits of these 

 people from those of the Swiss lake-dwellers. 



Dr. Keller is of opinion " that the different settlements in what 

 are called the Stone, the Bronze, and the Iron ages do not indicate 

 a succession of races, or the destruction of one people by another, 

 but merely different grades of civilization amongst one and the 

 same people," and that the lake-dwellers belonged to the same 

 people as their contemporaries on the mainland. He also accepts 

 the conclusion that certain bronze objects of a peculiar form and 

 ornamentation, such as some of those found in the settlements on 

 the land and in the lakes, are referable to the Celts ; and as history 

 makes no mention of any early people but the Celts, who received 

 their civilization in later times from the Romans, he infers " that 



