SKETCH-MAPS, PLANS, SECTIONS, ETC.

THE Lake-Dwellings of Europe.

First Lecture.
SETTLEMENTS IN LAKE ZÜRICH, WESTERN SWITZERLAND AND FRANCE.

The investigations of geologists in the early part of this century, culminating in the publication of Sir Charles Lyell's "Principles of Geology," not only upset current theories regarding the past history of our globe, but also revolutionised the very formulæ on which these theories were founded. The influence of this drastic clearance of antiquated machinery in geology soon extended to the collateral sciences, and one of the first to benefit from the improved methods was archæology. The first great application of scientific methods to prehistoric researches was made in the north of Europe. The Scandinavian savants, in attempting to pry into the early history of their people, found so little reliable information in their sagas and other mythological fables, that they cast them altogether aside as useless or misleading. Struck with the elegance and beauty of the stone weapons and implements so profusely scattered over the land, they seized the idea, occasionally previously mooted by writers in other countries, but hitherto never seriously considered, that there was a time when people were entirely ignorant of the use of metals, and, in the prosecution of their social industries, had to depend exclusively on such tools as could be manufactured out of stone, horn, wood, etc. To this idea they soon afterwards linked another, which experience has also shown to be founded on accurate observation, viz. that their earliest metal objects were made from a nearly uniform compound of copper and tin, known as bronze. Iron, it was maintained, was not known in the country for several centuries afterwards; but, on the other hand, when it became known, it gradually superseded bronze in the manufacture of all cutting implements and weapons, on account of its superior qualities for such purposes.

These simple observations in the hands of the Scandinavian scientists supplied the essential elements of a new system of classification, which has since become so familiar all over the world as the three ages of Stone, Bronze and Iron. Its adoption by Dr. Thomsen, in 1830, as the basis of arranging the prehistoric materials in the Museum of Northern Antiquities at Copenhagen, and, a few years later, in the Museums of Lund and Stockholm, marks the commencement of a new era in the history of prehistoric archæology. Other nations were not slow in following in the footsteps of the northern savants, and to such an extent was this new departure carried that for a time at least, all antiquarian objects were classified as belonging to one or other of the so-called ages, on the mere knowledge of their composition. So fascinating was the spell of this new doctrine, that it was some time before even experienced archæologists could see the fallacy of adhering rigidly to such a method of arranging objects; as if, the instant a bronze or an iron implement became known, the manufacture of its analogues in the inferior materials there and then ceased for ever. While, therefore, conceding that the chronological sequence of the three ages, as determined in Scandinavia, is generally correct, and holds good also for European countries, I consider it radically wrong to suppose that the respective epochs indicated by these successive stages of civilisation, especially in districts widely separated, are identical in point of time. Many local circumstances in a country, such as the poverty of the people, their isolation and distance from commercial highways, etc., have often so contributed to the persistency of customs and usages, elsewhere become obsolete and entirely superseded, that a chronological comparison of its progress in civilisation, as defined by the three ages, becomes perplexing, if not misleading, when applied to other countries. The question resolves itself, therefore, into this: that each well-defined archæological or geographical area must ascertain the chronological sequence and duration of these ages for itself.

But whatever may be the value of this system when applied to the elucidation of early European civilisation, one thing is certain—that it was the means of evoking throughout the entire world an enormous amount of interest in archæological pursuits. Henceforth primeval antiquities of every description, the merest "waifs and strays" of humanity, things which previously were utterly ignored, were now eagerly collected, described, and catalogued; and in every centre of intelligence societies and journals were founded with the express object of following up the new found trail of prehistoric man. Since then the problem of man's place in nature has come largely to the front, and now appeals for its solution to all departments of science, and to all legitimate processes of reasoning. Among those who devoted their energies to the study and elucidation of the archæological phase of this problem was the learned Ferdinand Keller, President of the Antiquarian Association at Zürich, to whom the world is indebted for one of the most remarkable archæological discoveries of this century—a discovery which in its consequential results is unique for the variety and wealth of materials with which it has illustrated that singular but long unknown and forgotten phase of prehistoric civilisation in Europe, which found its outcome in the habit of constructing dwellings in lakes, marshes, etc. This discovery of Dr. Keller was not of the nature of a lucky find, but was the result of a purely mental process—a spark of superior intelligence—fostered, I have no doubt, by his knowledge of these very Scandinavian doctrines to which I have just referred.

In countries whose lakes and rivers are fed from snow-clad mountains and glaciers, it is observed that their waters find their greatest diminution in winter, when a portion of their supply is temporarily suspended in the form of ice. This phenomenon became unusually intensified in Switzerland during the winter of 1853-4, so much so, that the level of its lakes had sunk lower than had ever before been known. Some of the inhabitants of the village of Ober-Meilen, on the east shore of Lake Zürich, took advantage of this circumstance to extend their vineyards, by recovering portions of the exposed shore, which they enclosed with stone walls, and filled in the space with mud, so as to bring its surface above the ordinary level of the lake. In the course of these operations the workmen came upon the heads of wooden piles around which were portions of stags' horns, stone hatchets and other implements (Fig. 1), which excited some curiosity among them. The event, however, was not singular in the district, as objects of a similar character were on several occasions encountered along the shore of the lake; and even in this same spot, in 1829, when the little harbour of the village was being deepened, bits of rotten piles, as well as implements of stone and horn, were turned up among the dredged stuff. They were not, however, deemed of sufficient value to be rescued from the mud, so that, along with it, they were carried away and re-deposited in deep water. Also at Männedorf, a village a few leagues farther up the lake, during the winter of 1843-4, while its harbour was being enlarged, similar discoveries were made. A few of the relics were on this occasion collected and sent to the Museum at Zürich, where they are still to be seen. Indeed, these, and other recorded instances of antiquarian remains being fished up or dredged from the Swiss lakes, are by no means exceptional events; but, however suggestive they may now appear, they all failed to excite in the minds of their beholders that great deduction which will for ever associate the name of Keller with the lake-dwellings of Europe. On this occasion the schoolmaster of the village of Ober-Meilen, Mr. Æppli, whose house was close by, considered the find of sufficient importance to be brought under the notice of the Antiquarian Association at Zürich, which he accordingly did in the month of January, 1854. Thus it was that Dr. Keller appeared on the scene. From the investigations which subsequently ensued the following general facts were ascertained.

(a) Composition of Lake-bed.—First, or uppermost, there was a stratum of yellowish mud, from 1 to 2 feet thick, mixed with rounded pebbles, and in all respects similar to what was being deposited in the shallow indentations of the lake in the vicinity. Beneath this was a deposit of blackish mud, mixed with decayed organic matter, and varying in thickness from 2 to 2½ feet, in which the tops of the piles appeared and all the relics were found. The third stratum was in composition somewhat similar to the first, and, like it, with the exception of the deeply penetrating piles, was devoid of antiquarian remains.

(b) Disposition of the Piles, etc.—The exact dimensions of the area occupied by the piles were not determined, but it appeared to be considerable, and to stretch along the shore within a few fathoms of the ordinary water-mark. The piles were made of different kinds of wood—oak, beech, birch, and fir being the most prevalent—and they varied in thickness from 4 to 6 inches. Sometimes entire stems were used, but more frequently they were split into halves or quarters. They were about 1½ foot apart, and had a kind of systematic arrangement in rows parallel to the beach. Some piles were pulled up, and their tips were found to have been pointed by blunt tools, the cuts of which were, in the estimation of experienced carpenters who had examined them, precisely similar to those which would be made by those very stone implements collected around them.

(c) Relics.—The relics were of a mixed character, and included the following:—Stone celts and chisels, some of them being still fixed in their horn handles and fastenings (Fig. 1, Nos. 3, 4, 11, and 15); perforated hammer-axes (Nos. 8, 13, and 17); mealing-stones and polishers (No. 12); various implements made of flint, as scrapers, flakes (No. 1), saws (No. 2), and some rude arrow-points (only one being neatly finished, No. 16); various objects of horn and bone (Nos. 6 and 7); also some wooden clubs, fragments of pottery, spindle-whorls (No. 14), shells of hazel-nuts, etc. Among the relics then collected were a bead of amber (No. 9) and a bronze armilla (No. 10).

After careful consideration of the facts thus brought to light, Dr. Keller came to the conclusion that the piles had formerly supported a wooden platform, that on this platform huts had been erected, and that, after these had been inhabited for a long period, the whole structure had been destroyed by fire.

A knowledge of these discoveries at Ober-Meilen, and of Dr. Keller's opinion in regard to them, soon spread among the surrounding inhabitants, the immediate result of which was a sudden crop of lacustrine explorers, who carried on a vigorous search for similar remains in this and the adjacent lakes. For their guidance were requisitioned all sorts of traditions, stories of submerged cities, of which many abounded, recollections of the occasional finding of implements and weapons of unusual types, etc.; but of greatest service was the local knowledge of fishermen, who, from practical experiences of disasters to their nets and fishing gear, could at once point out numberless localities where large fields of submerged piling were to be found. In the spring of the same year the celebrated station known as the Steinberg, at Nidau, in Lake Bienne, was discovered, as well as numerous other stations in the lakes of Bienne, Neuchâtel, and Geneva; so that before an illustrated account of the Ober-Meilen discovery could appear in the Transactions of the Antiquarian Society of Zürich Dr. Keller had important materials of a similar character from other localities to record. This report, entitled "Die Keltischen Pfahlbauten in den Schweizerseen," appeared towards the close of the year 1854, and at once attracted the attention of archæologists in all countries. Since then lacustrine investigations in search of lake-dwellings have been incessantly carried on, not only in Switzerland, but in many other countries in Europe, with the result that each year has seen an increase in their number, as well as a corresponding enhancement of the archæological value of the materials so discovered.

Prominent among the early investigators whose names have a claim to be associated with this great discovery which has so popularised the name of the Zürich antiquary were Colonel Schwab, of Bienne, whose splendid collection of lake-dwelling antiquities now adorns his native town; Professor Desor, author of the admirable little treatise "Les Palafittes, ou Constructions lacustres du lac de Neuchâtel," and other works; and Professor Troyon of Lausanne, whose work, "Habitations lacustres des temps anciens et modernes," is so well known. But foremost among them all stood Keller himself, who from time to time, according to the demands of fresh discoveries, issued systematic reports of the Pfahlbauten, of which no fewer than six had appeared previous to the year 1866. In that year was published the English edition of Keller's reports, arranged and translated by Mr. Lee. It is needless to pursue here any further in historical order the various means, whether as publications or investigations, by which Keller's discovery was being pursued, as they come to be dealt with elsewhere. Suffice it to say that within a few years of its publicity, the existence of lacustrine villages all over Central Europe in prehistoric times was fully established.

From these remarks you will have some idea of the work before us in these lectures. It contemplates a critical and summary review of the principal results of the investigations of the lake-dwellings of Europe during the last half-century. This embraces a large geographical area, extending, roughly, from Ireland to Bulgaria, and from Venice on the Adriatic to the shores of the Baltic. Of the very numerous researches to which I shall have to refer, some were conducted by private individuals, others by public or scientific bodies, but all presumably more or less qualified to give a correct report of the facts. The records of successive discoveries have been generally published in the proceedings of local societies, but sometimes in separate monographs of extremely limited circulation. As to the antiquities, some have found their way to dealers, and have disappeared to foreign lands. A large proportion, however, have been carefully preserved in the respective districts or countries in which they were found, and are now located in public museums or private collections, where, as a rule, they are intelligently arranged and duly labelled. In conducting you, as it were, over this wide area, amidst such diversified materials, I shall be guided, to a certain extent, by geographical convenience, even at the expense of historical sequence; and in discussing typical finds I shall, as far as this may be practicable, make use of diagrammatic and pictorial illustrations, believing that even a poor illustration often conveys more information than the most accurate description.

LAKE ZÜRICH.

Further discoveries in Lake Zürich were not so speedily effected as in some of the other Swiss lakes, and for a few years the interest in this subject was transferred to more distant localities. In the following year, 1855, Colonel Schwab visited Zürich and made further researches at Männedorf and Ober-Meilen. From the latter he succeeded in securing a considerable number of objects, especially stone hatchets, some of which were made of nephrite, and a bronze celt of the flat type (Fig. 1, No. 5).

In 1858, in the course of some dredging operations for the purpose of deepening the mouth of the Limmat, fragments of pottery, bits of piles, and some peculiar beams having one or two square-cut holes (Fig. 2, Nos. 13 and 14) were dredged up. Dr. Keller recognised here the site of a Pfahlbau which extended both under the little island called Bauschanze and outwards towards the lake. (B. 22 and 336.)

Two other localities near the outlet known as the "Kleiner Hafner" and "Grosser Hafner" were also proved to have been stations. The former was opposite the north end of the Tonhalle, and about 150 yards distant from the original shore. It occupied a circular area of about 1½ acre in extent and, when the water was low, its surface was only some 3 feet submerged. The Grosser Hafner was farther off in the lake, and its area was considerably larger than that of the Kleiner Hafner. On a clear day in both these localities stones and the tops of piles could be seen. Another locality known to Dr. Keller at this early period was about two miles from Zürich, on the west shore of the lake and just opposite the steamboat pier at Wollishofen. Here the lake-bed consisted of a deposit of fine mud, and owing to the constant commotion made by the steamers in passing to and fro the débris of the lake-dwelling had been greatly covered up. (B. 336.)

As the Kleiner Hafner lay directly along the course followed by the steamers, and greatly obstructed their passage, the authorities, in 1867, resolved to have the obstruction removed altogether. For this purpose a dredging machine was used, by means of which a segment several feet thick was removed from its surface. During this operation the same kind of perforated beams which had already attracted attention at the Bauschanze were turned up among the stuff, together with numerous objects of flint, stone, bone, etc., similar to those at Ober-Meilen (Fig. 2, Nos. 9 to 17). In addition to these, however, there were bronze axes of the winged type, some spoon-shaped crucibles, large clay rings and fragments of pottery of an unusually fine kind (Fig. 2, Nos. 1 to 8). But, what was considered still more strange, there were among these relics some iron weapons and Roman tiles.

Hitherto there was little or nothing done to the Grosser Hafner, and the "Haumessergrund" at Wollishofen, and so the surmises of Dr. Keller regarding them might have died with him, had it not been for the extraordinary exertions of the people of Zürich to have their beautiful environments made still more attractive by art. These extensive alterations, begun some six years ago, and scarcely yet completed, have so entirely changed the aspect of the shore in the immediate neighbourhood of the outlet, that visitors whose recollection of the town dates farther back than these transformations, will hardly recognise the locality. A splendid bridge now spans the opening of the Limmat, and on both sides of it are elegant promenades, gardens, and ornamental quays, which occupy what was formerly part of the lake. The filling up of such a great area of lake-bottom involved the use of dredgers, which, with revolving buckets, raised stuff from the most convenient shallows along the shore, and having dropped it into boats, it was then transported to its final destination. Among the localities selected for these operations were the Grosser Hafner and the outskirts of the Bauschanze. The rich loamy deposits of the Haumessergrund at Wollishofen were also found suitable for mixing with the gravel and for forming a good soil for the floral and horticultural gardens which now form such a conspicuous ornament to the fashionable walks along the northern shore of the lake.

The Grosser Hafner[1] supplied a wonderful medley of antiquarian objects, apparently of all ages—stone hatchets (one of which was 10 inches long), horn handles, bone implements, etc. Among bronze objects were: hatchets of the winged type, chisels, sickles, knives some ornamented with half-circles, points, and lines (Fig. 2, Nos. 30 and 35); pins with large heads, oval or round, and sometimes perforated and variously ornamented (Nos. 24, 25, and 26); arm-rings, both closed and open, and ornamented with engraved lines, dots, etc. (Nos. 18 and 28); a few spirals (No. 34), small rings and pendants (Nos. 19 and 27); two solid rings attached by a band (No. 29); a group of four rings—one being larger, on which the other three were hung (No. 20); a pin-like object, 15½ inches long, with a handle like that of a sword (No. 32); lance-heads, some of which were ornamented; a few small beads of amber. Among the fragments of pottery were two vessels complete with round bases (No. 31), and part of a moon-shaped crescent, rudely ornamented with depressions like finger-marks.

Here, again, as in the Kleiner Hafner, objects apparently of a later date were found, among which were Roman tiles, pottery of the kind known as terra sigillata, and an iron spear-head; also upwards of 16 coins of the time of Augustus, Tiberias and Vespasian.

On the other hand, at the Bauschanze, while objects of the stone age were very numerous, there were scarcely any of bronze. Most of the objects collected on this station were dispersed; but among the few that have come to the knowledge of antiquaries are some remarkable implements of horn, like picks, said to be field-hoes (Nos. 21 and 22). One of these is 14½ inches long, pointed at one end and chisel-shaped at the other. Another (10½ inches long) is also pointed at one end, but forked at the other. Both are perforated with an oval hole for the insertion of a wooden handle.[2]

Wollishofen.—The greatest of all the finds in Lake Zürich was that at Wollishofen. (B. 448, 449a, and 462.) Here, again, the dredging machines brought up a large quantity of wood, among which were some of those peculiar oak beams with square-cut holes, already noticed (Fig. 2, Nos. 13 and 14). The wood was of various kinds, and so abundant that the poorer people were in the habit of collecting it for firewood. Although the antiquities of the stone age were numerous, the great feature of this station is that it belonged to, or at least existed during, the most flourishing period of the bronze age. Notwithstanding pilfering, and the difficulty of detecting the smaller objects, the collection, as now deposited in the Museum at Zürich, must be considered one of the most important in the whole series of lake-dwelling researches. Among the more remarkable objects were the following:—

Weapons.—Four bronze swords, one only of which is complete (Fig. 3, No. 1); its entire length is 28½ inches, including the handle, which is also of bronze (barely 4 inches long), and to which the blade is attached by two rivets; another (No. 2), which is defective both in the blade and handle, is of a different type, especially in the formation of the handle, which was intended to have bone or wooden plates fastened with rivets to the remaining bronze portion; it is ornamented with a combination of circles or semicircles, in incised lines or dots. Three daggers, two of which have rivet-holes, and the third has what appears to be the remains of a tang. Eleven arrow-heads of bronze, and several of flint and bone. Of the former, two only have sockets (Nos. 4 and 14), the others being imitations of the ordinary flint forms (Nos. 3 and 5). Lance-heads were in much larger numbers than either the swords or daggers; they are mostly socketed, with side rivet-holes for fixing the handle; they vary in length from 3½ to 8 inches, and are sometimes ornamented, as shown in No. 7, and only two had tangs. Portions of wood are supposed to be fragments of bows.

Industrial Implements and Ornaments.—The stone hatchets are exceedingly well-made, and appear to have been partly sawn from water-worn boulders of serpentine and hornstone. None were of nephrite or jadeite; a few of horn have been noted (Fig. 185, No. 15). The bronze hatchets (Fig. 4, Nos. 16, 20, and 25) were numerous, the greatest number having four wings and sometimes a loop at the side; the direction of the cutting edge is generally at right angles to that of the wings, but in a few instances parallel to it (as in No. 16); at the top of the hatchet there is a hole or small recess. Of the flat kind there were a few, one of which is here figured (No. 25). Two small ones are of copper (Fig. 3, No. 17). The knives are mostly ornamented with running patterns or circles or semicircles in dots or lines, and the blades are all more or less curved (Fig. 4, Nos. 11 to 15); the handles were sometimes solid and of a piece with the blade, but more frequently they were of horn or wood, and attached by tangs or rivets. It is rather remarkable that amongst the large number of knives collected at Wollishofen there is not one of the socketed kind, which, as we shall afterwards see, are so frequently met with in Lake Bourget and some stations in western Switzerland. Some sickles of the usual type, fish-hooks, and a few of the socketed razor knives. Of bronze hammers there are six, all of which are socketed and either round or rectangular in shape (Fig. 4, Nos. 8 and 18). The round one, No. 8, is ornamented with a series of circular grooves, and has a socket 1¾ inches deep; it weighs 490 grs.

There is a considerable number of chisels and gouges (Fig. 4, Nos. 1 to 7), small tubes, broad-headed nails and studs. One bronze punch is bifurcated (Antiqua, 1886, Pl. v. Fig. 8). An elegant vase of solid bronze (Fig. 3, No. 22), and fragments of large situlæ, made of thin bronze plates riveted (Fig. 4, Nos. 17 and 22). One of the most remarkable objects is that represented on Fig. 4, No. 21, which is supposed to be an anvil. Several long pins with sword-like handles, similar to one found on the Grosser Hafner (Fig. 4, Nos. 9 and 10). Bronze hair-pins were so numerous that they are to be counted by hundreds in the Museum (Fig. 3, Nos. 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 19 and 23 to 26). One bronze comb and one bronze fibula (Fig. 3, Nos. 16 and 20). Bracelets are well represented, both closed and open; they are either flat or in solid mass (Fig. 3, No. 13), and generally ornamented; one (No. 15), open at the ends, is made of two stout wires, one of which is spirally grooved, and the other plain; these wires are united at the ends by a tin pin, which passes through a loop formed by the recoil of the ends of the wires. A large hollow ring (three inches internal, and rather more than four inches external diameter) is highly ornamented. (See Fig. 188, No. 2.) Finger-rings (Fig. 3, No. 28), pendants (Nos. 29, 30, and 31), buttons (No. 21), studs (No. 27), a so-called portemonnaie, for ring money (No. 33), portions of girdles (Fig. 4, No. 19). There are also one ringlet of gold and three beads, one of amber and two of glass. Amongst the nondescript objects are several small wheels—three of pottery (Fig. 5, No. 6), five of bronze (Fig. 3, Nos. 12 and 18), and two of tin (No. 32)—a leaden weight, which has a high loop of bronze (Fig. 4, No. 23). An object of the same kind (No. 24), with two loops, was found at Onnens. Besides the two copper celts (Fig. 3, No. 17) there were two small copper awls and several bits of this metal.

Pottery.—The pottery at Wollishofen shows vessels made of two kinds of paste, one fine, and the other coarse containing a mixture of rough sand. The vessels varied much in size, the smallest being only about one inch in diameter, and the larger ones, judging from the curve of the fragments, ranged from sixteen to twenty-seven inches in diameter. They had no glaze, nor can it be said that the wheel was used in their manufacture, although some are very symmetrically shaped. No quartz or sand was mixed with the fine paste, of which the more ornamental vessels were made (Fig. 5 Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, and 12). Some had a conical-shaped base, and could only be made to sit in soft material, such as sand, or by means of a ring, like those figured from the Kleiner and Grosser Hafner. One small vessel was trilocular, having its three chambers or bowls attached to one common base. Some very flat vessels were found, which are supposed to have been lids (Fig. 5, No. 7). Spindle whorls of burnt clay variously ornamented (Fig. 5, Nos. 13 to 20), and some other objects like modern thread pirns (Nos. 5 and 10) are in abundance. Portions of six crescents are all differently ornamented. Some now in the Museum have been restored, so as to show their original form and ornamentation, and it is from one of these that the illustration here given was taken (Fig. 5, No. 8). Some dishes took the forms of animals, as in No. 4, and were probably used as lamps.

Among other objects may be mentioned some bits of red stone, supposed to have been used as paint; foundry materials, as moulds and bronze dross; portion of a dug-out canoe; various bits of sawn and cut horn; etc.

Human Remains.—The only portion of a human skeleton was a skull, which, according to Dr. Kollmann, is of the mesocephalic type. (B. 420, p. 90.)

Organic Remains.—Wheat, millet, hazel-nuts, and crab-apples, were identified.

Männedorf.—I have already incidentally referred to the discovery of the site of a lake-dwelling at Männedorf before 1854, when such antiquities were not understood (page 4). In 1866, however, a portion of lake-bottom close to where these early discoveries were made, measuring about eighty feet by thirty, was deepened to facilitate the passage of steamers, when further evidence as to the nature of this settlement was disclosed. The piles were so closely set that there was hardly the breadth of a pile between them. The objects collected were very similar to those already described from Ober-Meilen, among which was a spoon-like crucible like those from Robenhausen. (B. 126, p. 263.) The discovery of a second station near the mouth of the Surenbach, between Männedorf and Uetikon, was noticed by Dr. Keller in his second report. (B. 22, p. 121.)

Uetikon.—Remains of another station are to be found close by the landing stage at Uetikon, from which on several occasions antiquities of the Stone Age were picked up. More decided indications of the character of this settlement were, however, revealed in 1886, in consequence of some dredging operations that were carried on. On this occasion were found not only piles, bones of various animals, as stag, ox, and pig, fragments of pottery, stone hatchets, and flint implements—the usual relics of the Stone Age—but also a few bronze rings and hair-pins. (B. 462, p. 17.)

In the Zürich Museum may be seen a considerable number of the relics from this station, among which are twenty-three stone celts (one being still in its horn fastening), five flint saws or scrapers, four pointers of horn, and a semi-globular spindle-whorl.

Erlenbach.—Near Erlenbach were two settlements, one at Winkel, a few minutes' walk above the village; and the other at Wyden, about an equal distance below it. In 1886 the usual indications of the Pfahlbau settlements, such as piles and various industrial relics, were found in the course of some dredging operations, but the objects were mostly dispersed. (B. 462, and 420a, p. 73.)

Letten.—In 1877, while digging a canal in connection with the Zürich waterworks, some remarkable antiquities of bronze and iron were dug up, which Dr. Keller describes in the eighth report of the lake-dwellings. They were found in a portion of the cutting extending some eight hundred yards in length at a place called Letten, on the right bank of the Limmat, nearly opposite to where the Zihl joins it. The objects lay in a fine mud deposited by the river, and underneath a bed of gravel of the same origin. Dr. Keller came to the conclusion that the "Lettenfunde" belonged to a settlement analogous to, and probably contemporary with, the later Pfahlbauten, with the relics from which they in many respects agree. A careful inspection of the Letten relics—which include two swords, one or two spear-heads, a variety of winged celts, a couple of sickles with raised buttons, knives, a great number of hair-pins of diversified forms, an involved ring-ornament, etc., all of bronze—shows that they are of a more recent period than the lake-dwellings. Among the bronze celts are forms (as for example that in Fig. 3, No. 35) which have never been found in the true relic bed of a lake-dwelling; and besides there are other objects, such as a fibula, and a piece of iron partly fashioned, probably intended for a sword, which are characteristic of the La Tène period. (See Fig. 87, No. 6.) While deepening the bed of the Limmat similar objects, as well as those of preceding and succeeding ages (Roman), have been frequently found. The Letten objects correspond more with the pre-Roman antiquities found in the Nidau-Büren Canal and in some of the later tumuli, and may therefore be said to link together the products of two very different civilisations, viz. the bronze age of the lake-dwellings, and the subsequent iron age, so characteristic in La Tène.

For the relative positions of these stations see Sketch Map, page 9.

LAKE OF BIENNE.

Investigations in the Jura Lakes, and Archæological Result of the "Correction des Eaux du Jura."—At a short distance from the eastern shore of Lake Bienne, near where the Zihl by several mouths found its former exit, there exists, or rather formerly existed, a stony elevation, covering an area of some three acres, which rose gradually from a depth of about 20 feet to within 7 or 8 of the surface. This curious cairn-like structure, being in marked contrast with the surrounding lake sediments which here consist chiefly of fine mud, was well-known to the fishermen as the "Steinberg," i.e. stone hillock. Among these stones were many projecting heads of piles which, to prevent injury to their nets, the fishermen were in the habit from time to time of pulling out. Moreover, at various times, on or near this steinberg, Roman tiles and some fantastically shaped objects covered with chalky concretions were picked up, which fostered a vague opinion that it was the foundation of a Roman fortress or lighthouse.

In 1854 Colonel Schwab and Mr. Müller of Nidau made a careful investigation of the steinberg, the result of which was to leave no doubt that it was the site of a lake-village which had been erected over the piles, the stumps of which then only were detected among the stones. These stones were of a pretty uniform size, not too large to be transported readily by human hands, and in material they were exactly similar to those scattered among the glacial débris on the neighbouring slopes. Interspersed in this cairn were, not only the upright piles of round or split stems, singly and in groups, but also transverse beams, which had evidently not fallen at random but had been intentionally placed and jammed between the uprights to keep them more firmly in position. The strange-looking objects turned out to be bronze implements encrusted with such a coating of lime that their metallic nature had been effectually concealed. The station quickly proved to be exceedingly rich in antiquities of new and varied forms. Not only the usual objects of the Stone Age, but even implements of iron and fragments of pottery of unusual elegance were fished up.

This discovery was greatly talked of in the district, and led to such a lively search for the sites of lacustrine abodes that before the end of the year some half-dozen stations were identified in the Lake of Bienne alone, not to mention a much larger number in the adjacent lakes. Notwithstanding the difficulties under which these lacustrine investigations were conducted, as dredging or digging under several feet of water was both laborious and expensive, the number of objects collected by the Swiss antiquaries in those early years is astonishingly great, as evidence of which I have only to point to the collections of Col. Schwab and Professor Desor.

It is often the case that antiquarian remains owe their discovery to the mere accident of agricultural operations, peat-cutting, drainage, etc. Such operations are, however, usually confined to small lakes and bogs. The idea of partially lowering the surface of the extensive sheets of water in the Jura valley, comprising the lakes of Bienne, Neuchâtel, and Morat, was too chimerical to be ever entertained in the interests of archæology. But what was inconceivable and utterly beyond hope from this point of view, became, in the interests of agriculture, not only a practical problem, but is now an accomplished fact. Between the lakes of Bienne, Neuchâtel, and Morat, there stretches a vast mossy district known as the "Gross Moos," through which the combined surplus water of the two latter lakes finds its way to the former. From the north end of Lake Bienne the surplus water again emerges, and is conveyed by the Zihl or Lower Thielle in a sluggish channel for some miles farther down the valley, where, before the Correction des Eaux du Jura, it united with the Aar. As the surface of these lakes is nearly on the same level, it is more than probable that in early prehistoric times their waters formed one united sheet, which in the course of ages became separated into three lakes by the interposition of the sedimentary and peaty deposits now forming the Gross Moos. Their connecting channels, the Broye and the Upper Thielle, owing to the sluggishness of the flow, became gradually raised by the constant deposition of mud, thus proportionately raising the level of the confined waters, and consequently rendering the surrounding lands more and more liable to submergence. Also, the river Aar, though passing quite in the vicinity of the lake of Bienne, went a long way beyond it before joining with the Zihl, and often caused great havoc by flooding the richly-cultivated lands of the lower grounds.

To remedy these defects the Swiss Government entered on the gigantic project of rectifying and deepening the entire waterway from the junction of the Lower Thielle with the Aar to the mouth of the Broye in Lake Morat. The scheme also included the cutting of a new channel for the Aar, by means of which it would be entirely diverted from its old course, and made to debouch into Lake Bienne by a straight and much shorter route. (See Sketch Map, page 23.)

The hydrographical result of these works (which were begun in 1868, and only completed a few years ago) was to lower the surface of these lakes to the extent of six or eight feet. In the winter of 1871-2 the operations began to tell on Lake Bienne, but it was some years later before the others became sensibly affected. When, however, the works were completed, the permanent effect on these lakes, especially on Lake Neuchâtel, was very marked—harbours, jetties, and extensive tracts of shore-land being left high and dry by the subsiding waters. This was the harvest-time of archæology. Many of the lacustrine abodes became dry land, and were visited by crowds of eager searchers; even fishermen forsook their normal avocations, finding it more profitable to fish for prehistoric relics. Government at last interfered with this indiscriminate "howking," and passed a law restricting the privilege of excavating to the authorities of the respective Cantons on whose territories the stations happened to be. Thus the "Correction des Eaux du Jura," as the undertaking was called, greatly facilitated the investigations of the Swiss lake-dwellings, and contributed enormously to the elucidation of the culture and civilisation of their inhabitants.