39 
more than this : the size of the house is further marked out by 
boards forced in firmly between the piles, and resting edgeways 
on the platform, thus forming what at the present day we should 
call the skirting boards of the huts or rooms. It cannot now be 
determined whether this was continued higher than a single 
board, as no more than this has yet been discovered ; but the 
advantage of even a single plank, set on edge, to keep out wet, 
wind, and vermin is quite evident. It is also certain that the 
walls or sides were in a great measure made of a wattle or hurdle- 
work consisting of small branches, woven in between the upright 
piles, and covered with a considerable thickness of loam or clay. 
This is proved by the presence of numerous pieces of half-burnt 
clay, upon which the impressions of the wattle-work still remain. 
These singularly illustrative specimens are found in nearly every 
settlement which has been destroyed by fire. 
The evidence which has been collected proves that the greater 
number of the huts w^ere rectangular ; but some of them may 
possibly have been round ; from ancient authors, it is very evi- 
dent that the huts of many nations on terra firma were round in 
form, and remains of some ancient circular huts have been dis- 
covered in a lake-dwelling in Mecklenburg. 
It is not known whether the huts were divided into several 
rooms or not ; possibly further discoveries may decide this. 
From the remains of straw and reeds found in every lake-dwell- 
ing, it seems almost certain that the huts were thatched with 
these materials, and it is highly probable that the dormitories 
were strewed with the softer kinds of straw or hay. 
Every hut had its hearth, consisting of three or four large 
slabs of stone ; and it is probable, from the almost universal 
prevalence of clay weights for weaving, that most, if not all, of 
them were furnished with a loom. Portions of young trees with 
the branches partially lopped off are also not uncommon in 
these dwellings ; these would be very convenient, if fastened to 
the roof or the walls, for the suspension of the mats, the tools, 
the nets, or the earthenware vessels, some of which seem to 
have had rope handles. 
The objects exhibited in the Blackmore Museum have been 
obtained chiefly from the settlements at Moosseedorf, Roben- 
hausen, and Wangen — all of which stations belong to the Stone 
period. 
Moosseedorf. 
The small lake of Moosseedorf, distant about two hours' walk 
from Berne, belongs, as its name imports, to that numerous class 
