Danish Peat Bogs.—The peat bogs of Denmark, so faithfully investigated by Professor Steenstrup, mark three periods of deposition. The most ancient is called the Scotch-Fir; the second, immediately above, the Oak, and the uppermost, the Beech. The peat is from ten to forty feet in thickness, and to form a layer from ten to twenty feet thick would require, according to Steenstrup, at least four thousand years, and perhaps even from three to four times that period.[68] These three epochs denote three periods of time. The lowest belongs to the neolithic, the middle to the bronze, and the last to the iron epoch. In the lowest, or Fir period, have been found worked flints and bones. Human bones have been found, which correspond with the bones taken from the tumuli of this epoch.
The Lake-Dwellings of Switzerland.—Dr. Ferdinand Keller and his associates have made known to the world the wonderful remains of villages situated in the lakes of Switzerland and other countries. The villages of Switzerland do not all belong to the same period, and they represent the neolithic, bronze, and iron epochs; but there was no hard line of demarcation between these three periods. These habitations are so numerous that more than two hundred settlements hare been discovered in Switzerland alone. Among the lakes furnishing these remains may be counted the Lake of Neuchâtel (forty-six settlements); Lake Constance (thirty-two settlements); Lake of Geneva (twenty-four settlements); Lake of Bienne (twenty-one settlements); Lake of Morat (sixteen settlements); Lake of Zurich (three settlements); Lake of Pfæffikon (six settlements); Lake of Sempach (six settlements); Lake of Moosseedorf (two settlements); Lake of Inkwyl (one settlement); Lake of Nussbaumen (one settlement); Lake Greiffensee (one settlement); Lake of Zug (six settlements); Lake of Baldegg (five settlements), and others.
The habitations belonging to the neolithic are Lake Constance thirty, Neuchatel twelve, Geneva two settlements; one each at Morat, Bienne, Zurick, Pfæffikon, Inkwyl, Moosseedorf, Nussbaumen, the settlement of Concise, the bridge Thiéle, the peat-bog of Wauwyl, and others.
These dwellings were built near the shore, on piles of various kinds of wood, sharpened by tools and fire, and driven into the mud at the shallow bottom of the lake. In some of the settlements the piles were fastened by heaping stones around them. The piles were sometimes placed together, at others apart. The heads were brought to a level and then the platform beams were fastened upon them. This basis served for the foundation of the rude rectangular huts they erected. These piles are not now seen above the water, yet they are visible above the bottom of the lake. The number of piles in some of these settlements is as high as one hundred thousand, and the area occupied, not less than seventy thousand square yards. It has been estimated that the population of the Lake-villages during the neolithic was over thirty thousand.
The object of these dwellings was to protect the inhabitants from wild animals, the attacks of enemies, and for the ready obtaining of food by fishing. They were not only occupied by the inhabitants, but also by their herds and the stores of fodder.[69]
Robenhausen.—It is not necessary to go into an account of a number of these settlements to represent the neolithic epoch, for the settlement at Robenhausen (Lake Pfæffikon) takes the first rank in giving the domestic arrangements of the ancient inhabitants. This settlement covered a space of nearly three acres, and one hundred thousand piles were used in the whole structure. Its form was an irregular quadrangle. It was about two thousand paces from the ancient western shore of the lake, and about three thousand from the shore in the opposite direction. With the last-named side there was a communication by means of a bridge, the piles of which are still visible. On this side were the gardens and pastures. The dwellers of this settlement were unfortunate, as their habitation was twice burned up, and each time, they rallied and rebuilt their huts. They remained a long time as would seem from the depth of the peat and the vast amount of relics found.
At a depth of eleven feet were found the earliest or most ancient relics; at ten and one-half feet, the remains of the first conflagration—charcoal, stone and bone implements, pottery, woven cloth, corn, apples, etc.; at seven and one-half feet, flooring, relics of the second settlement, and excrement of cows, sheep, and goats; at six and one half feet, remains of second conflagration—charcoal, stone and bone implements, pottery, woven cloth, corn, apples, etc.; at three and one-half feet, broken stones, flooring, and relics of the third settlement; at two and one half feet, stone celts, pottery, but no traces of fire. Above this was two feet of peat and one-half foot of mould.
Without going into detail, the objects found in these various beds are as follows: Made out of wood, are knives, ladles, plates, clubs of ash, in which is fixed a socket of stag's horn containing a stone celt, a boat made of a single trunk, twelve feet long, two and one-half feet wide, and five inches deep, flails for threshing out grain, bows notched at both ends, fishing implements, floats for the support of nets, suspension hooks, tubs, chisels, sandals, yokes made for carrying vessels, and a peculiar ornament. These implements were all made out of yew, maple, ash, fir, and the root of the hazel bush. Out of stag's horn—arrow-heads, daggers, piercing and scraping tools, implements for knitting and for agriculture. The implements of stone were polished, and of the usual form. The objects of clay were fragments of pottery, in the shape of urns, plates, and cups, in great abundance. There were also found spoons, and a perforated cone, supposed to have been used as a weight for the loom. Several crucibles or melting pots have been found, which were used for melting copper. The third building of this village was on the borderland between the stone and bronze ages.
The remains of animals found here and at Moosseedorf and Wauwyl, all of the neolithic, belong to the brown bear, badger, marten, pine-marten, polecat, wolf, fox, wild-cat, beaver, elk, urus, bison, stag, roe-deer, wild-boar, marsh-boar; the domestic animals were the boar, horse, ox, goat, sheep, and dog. The remains of the domestic hog are absent from all the pile works of this period, save the one at Wauwyl.
Among cereals (Robenhausen) were found several varieties of wheat and barley; fruits and berries—service-tree, dog-rose, elder, bilberry, and wayfaring tree; the nuts—hazel, beech, and water-chestnut; the oil-producing plants—opium, or garden poppy, and dogwood; the fibrous plants—flax; plants used for dying—weld; forest trees and shrubs—silver fir, juniper, yew, ash, and oak; water and marsh plants—lake scirpus, pondweeds, common hornwort, marsh bedstraw, buckbean, yellow waterlily, ivy-leaved crowfoot, and marsh pennywort.