241 
between Ober Meilen and Dollikon, 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 conducted 
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 Papous of New Guinea, whose huts, 
circular or square in form, are grouped on wooden platforms, 
elevated a few feet above the level of the water, supported 
by numerous piles driven into the mud, and connected 
with the land by a narrow bridge. 
This method of construction, indications of which are 
found in various parts of Europe, was especially mentioned 
by Herodotus,* who describes the Pceonians of Lake Prasias, 
in Thrace, as living in cabins situated on a platform, sup- 
ported above the water by great piles. Each cabin had a 
trap-door opening on to the lake, and the whole settlement 
communicated with the main land by a bridge. 
The dwellings of the Gauls are described as having been 
circular huts, built of wood and lined with mud. The huts 
of the pileworks were probably of a similar nature. This 
supposition is not a mere hypothesis, but is confirmed by the 
preservation of pieces of the clay used for the lining. Their 
preservation is evidently due to the building having been 
destroyed by fire, which has hardened the clay and enabled 
it to resist the dissolving action of the water. These frag- 
ments bear, on one side, the marks of interlaced branches, 
♦Her. Book V. ch. 16. 
