Among miscellaneous objects are bracelets and beads made of coloured and of variegated glass or vitreous paste; also some jet ornaments, one of which is a handsome pendant in the form of an equal-armed cross, inscribed in a circle and having one surface ornamented by a series of incised circles which contained the remains of a yellow enamel. Dr. Joseph Anderson considers this a Christian relic of a very early type. A smooth and flat piece of ashwood, with peculiar spiral carvings on both sides, and a fringe-like apparatus made of the long stems of a moss, are among the objects which have excited the greatest curiosity. Regarding a finely polished conical object made of rock-crystal found at Lochspouts, a reviewer in the Academy, October 14th, writes:—"Is it a charm or can it have formed the centre knob or boss in the binding of some richly decorated breviary or gospel book? Crystals very similar, but oblong in form—like a Brazil nut—may be seen in some of the rich covers of books of early date, and a few that have been detached are preserved in collections. One such object forms part of a crystal necklace in the Ashmolean Museum, and another in private hands was employed, not so very many years ago, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, for the purpose of seeing spirits. If this relic be, indeed, a book-boss, it makes it probable that the crannog was at one time inhabited, or at least visited, by Christian missionaries." Dr. Joseph Anderson has also pointed out that this object is extremely like a "large circular rock crystal which forms the central ornament on the inferior surface of the foot of the famous silver chalice, dug up at the Rath of Reerasta, near Ardagh, county Limerick, Ireland, in 1868, and now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. According to the Earl of Dunraven, this most beautiful example of our ancient art was executed either in the ninth or tenth century." (See Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., December 4th, 1882.)

From the respective reports of Professors Owen, Rolleston, and Cleland, on a selection of osseous remains taken from the lake-dwellings at Dowalton, Lochlee, and Buston, we can form a fair idea of the food of the occupiers. The Celtic shorthorn ox, the so-called goat-horned sheep, and a domestic breed of pigs were largely consumed. The horse was only scantily used. The number of bones and horns of the red-deer and roebuck showed that venison was by no means a rare addition to the list of their dietary. Among birds, only the goose has been identified, but this is no criterion of the extent of their encroachment on the feathered tribe, as only the larger bones were collected and reported on. To this bill of fare the occupiers of Lochspouts crannog, being comparatively near the sea, added several kinds of shell-fish. In all the lake-dwellings that have come under my own observation the broken shells of hazel-nuts were in profuse abundance.

From the number of querns, and the great preponderance of the bones of domestic over those of wild animals, it may be inferred that, for subsistence, they depended more on the cultivation of the soil and the rearing of cattle, sheep, and pigs, than on the ordinary produce of the chase.

Proofs of a prolonged but occasionally interrupted occupancy are also manifested by the great accumulation of débris over the wooden pavements, the size and contents of the kitchen-middens, and the superimposed hearths.

Let us now look at the remarkable series of implements, weapons, ornaments, and nondescript objects here presented to us, with the view of abstracting from them some scraps of information regarding their original owners. The fragments of Samian ware, bronze dishes, harp-shaped fibulæ, and the large assortment of beads, bronze and bone pins, bone combs, jet ornaments, etc., are so similar to the class of remains found on the excavated sites of Romano-British towns, that there can hardly be any doubt that Roman civilisation had come in contact with the lake-dwellers. The Celtic element is, however, strongly developed, not only in the general character of many of the industrial implements of stone, bone, and iron, but also in the style of art manifested in some of the ornamental objects included in the collection. Thus the piece of ashwood with its carved spiral patterns ([Figs. 144] and [145]), the combs, especially the one showing a series of concentric circles connected by a running scroll design ([Fig. 174]), and some of the bronze brooches and ornaments ([Fig. 130]) present a style of ornamentation which is considered peculiar to Celtic art. The spiral finger-rings seem also to have been of native origin, and the probability is that they were manufactured where they were found, as several crucibles are amongst the relics from the same lake-dwelling, one of which, from the fact that it still contains particles of gold, proves that it had been used in melting this metal. (B. 373, p. 236.)

On the other hand, the forged gold coin is the only relic that can with certainty be said to have emanated from a Saxon source—at least, that cannot otherwise be accounted for.

But if from internal evidence a presumptive case is made out in favour of the Celtic origin and occupation of these lake-dwellings, it is greatly strengthened when we consider that the neighbouring Celtic races, especially in Ireland, were in the habit of erecting similar island abodes, while there is not a particle of evidence in favour of the idea that such structures originated with the Roman conquerors of Britain or its Saxon invaders.

Comb from the Roman City of
Uriconium (2⁄3).		Comb from the Knowe of
Saverough, Orkney (1⁄2).
Two Combs from the Broch of Burrian, Orkney (1⁄2).

Fig. 176.—Bone Combs, for comparison with those from the Lake-Dwellings.