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not known in the country for several centuries afterwards; but, on the other hand, when it became known, it gradually superseded bronze in the manufacture of all cutting implements and weapons, on account of its superior qualities for such purposes.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.