Fig. 1.—Sketch Section of Swiss Pile Dwelling.
This construction bears a close family resemblance to the Irish type, in which the huts stood, so to speak, on terra firma, and not en l’air, above the surface of the water. Like Irish dwellings of analogous formation, this species of substructure has as yet been found only in small lakes with soft and muddy bottoms, and of little depth and extent; they owe their origin to the fact, that piles driven into the oozy lake bottom could not have supported the necessary weight; for, if heavily laden, they must have sunk altogether below the surface of the water, or at least could not have retained their relative positions. This formation seems to have been of more ancient date than the artificial stages upon piles alone, inasmuch as few, if any, instances have been discovered in which bronze remains are associated with fascine dwellings. So far as can be judged from the manner in which the timbers are mortised together, as well as from the characteristics of the fictile ware found, their inhabitants differed in nothing from those who, owing to their better acquaintance with metal, constructed dwellings of greater solidity, in deeper water, and under more varied conditions. “It was impossible to adopt the fascine structure in the larger lakes, for it must have been foreseen that the waves which could drive amongst the upright piles of the usual pile dwelling without injuring them, would, in stormy weather, wash over the edges of the fascine platform and tear it in pieces.”[13]
The “fascine” lake dwelling in the lake of Fuschl, near the Mondsee in Austria, resembles, in most respects, those found in Switzerland, Ireland, and Scotland. This little lake is rich in fish, and its banks abound with game; on its western shore, in a little inlet, lies an artificial island nearly circular, about fifty paces in diameter, separated from the mainland by a narrow channel, now almost choked with peat-moss and marsh plants. The islet is only just above the ordinary water-level, and on inspection its construction was found to be as follows:—
First, a thick layer of peat-moss, then a stratum of branches, principally of mountain pine and dwarf birch: the foundation consists of large boughs or trunks of pine trees, the top pointing inwards. Small piles were driven through the different layers to hold the mass together, whilst on the exterior, a number of much smaller piles were driven into the lake-bed, probably to protect the structure from wave action. The difference in general constructive details between the dwellings on Helvetian and Hibernian lakes may be accounted for by the depth of water of the former, and the shallow muddy bottoms of the latter. Remains of a dwelling have been found embedded in the peat-bogs by which the hill of Chamblon is surrounded. The peat-cutters of Les Uttins, discovered horizontal beams with mortises, and a wooden roadway across the marsh leading to the spot. There are two settlements here, both very ancient: one is situated at a distance of 1850 yards from the lake, the other at a distance of 2200 yards, in an alluvial plain formed since their erection. Dr. Keller also describes ‘steinberge’ or stonehills, i. e. elevations on the bottom of the lakes, composed of stones and gravel artificially deposited. These were formed by the natives on natural shallows, for the purpose of lessening the depth of water. At Nidau, in the lake of Bienne, there is an artificial island encircled with piles, planks being laid horizontally at the bottom to retain in place the stones of which it is composed. At Möringen, in the same lake, there is a structure of similar type; whilst a large canoe, which had probably been used at its formation, was found lying at the bottom laden with a cargo of stones. Structures almost identical with the Irish have been found in the lakes of Inkwyler, Nussbaumen, and Wauwyl. The pile dwellings of Switzerland, i. e. those erected in deep water and in the larger lakes, bear a much closer resemblance to the description given by Herodotus than to the dwellings discovered in Ireland and Scotland. The settlement at Morges, on the Lake of Geneva, was 1200 feet in length by 120 in width, so that if entirely covered by a platform its area, according to the computation of M. Troyan, would have been sufficiently ample to accommodate a population of upwards of 1200 souls. Sometimes, as at Wangan, the villages were built close to the shore, and seem, as in Ireland, to have been protected by palisades.
The framework of the huts was probably made of logs and wattles, or of hurdles plastered over with clay: portions of the latter, with marks of the wattling still distinct on them, have been drawn from their watery bed. The Swiss dwellings appear to have been rectangular, resembling perhaps the châlets of the present day: it has not been decided whether they were divided into rooms, but, just as in the Irish dwellings, each hut had its hearth, of which the flat stones still often lie in situ; the invariable presence of clay weights indicates that most families possessed a loom, whilst from the remains of straw and reeds, it may be inferred that the roofs were thatched. The wide chronological range of these remains is very remarkable. The settlements in which stone implements have been found are more widely spread and more numerous than those of the metallic period. In Switzerland these lake villages appear to have commenced to decay, or to have been abandoned towards the close of the bronze age, and to have almost ceased to exist on the introduction of iron. In the stone era the bones of wild animals, of stags, of urus, of aurocles, and wild boar, are found, whilst in the metallic ages remains of domesticated animals preponderate more and more, till the final abandonment of these “water-towns.” The remains of human handicraft around the dwellings illustrate the habits, domestic usages, and skill, of their inhabitants during untold centuries; but the most striking fact is not so much their similarity to the Irish structures, as the identity in form and use of the articles discovered in them, both those employed in war and in the chase, as also the culinary and domestic implements, the objects of personal decoration, and those employed in the toilet.[14]
Scottish archæologists were aroused by the lacustrine discoveries on the Continent to investigation of similar remains occurring in their own country. It was found that early historic references to island forts, and incidental notices of the exposure of artificial islands, consequent on drainage operations, had been entirely overlooked. A crannog, that of Lochinadorb, in Moray, was honoured by a visit from Edward I. in 1303, and was considered of such importance, that thirty-three years later Edward III. led an army to its relief. A crannog in Loch Kinord, in Aberdeenshire, is mentioned in history in the year 1335: it received James IV. as a guest in 1506, and enjoyed a continuous existence until 1648, when its fortifications were razed by order of Parliament. Forty years after the dismantling of this island fortress, the crannog of Lochan-Eilean, in Strathspey, is described as “useful to the country in times of trouble or wars, for the people put in their goods and children here, and it is easily defended.” Artificial islands formed of wood or stone, often identical with those a short time previously ascertained to have existed in Ireland, were found more or less spread over the entire of Scotland. These have been lately classified and considerably added to by Dr. Munro, and in his work[15] at least fifty-three well-authenticated discoveries of wooden lake structures in Scotland are enumerated.
The Dowalton settlement, in the lake of that name, in Wigtownshire, seems to have been abandoned by its inhabitants at an early period: nothing mediæval was found on the site; a copper coin indeed (described, however, as of doubtful character) was picked up; but as it may have been dropped into the water at any period, its presence need not disturb such inference as we may draw from the other articles discovered. Mr. Stuart says, “there is a peculiar interest in the small colony of Dowalton, from its neighbourhood to the site of Ptolemy’s Roman town of Leucophibia … and that at least one object of Roman workmanship … has been found amongst the relics of the old inhabitants of the islands. It was only a matter of conjecture how it came there—whether in the course of commerce, by gift, or by appropriation after the removal of their Roman neighbours. It seems, however, not unreasonable to regard the occurrence of a Roman vessel at Dowalton, associated as it is with relics which are elsewhere found in early sepulchral cairns and British hut circles, as pointing to a period of occupation of the islands not later, and probably earlier, than that of the Roman settlement.” The list of antiquities brought to light at Dowalton is therefore extremely valuable for Irish Archæologists, as it included specimens of almost everything usually found in Irish crannogs (with the exception of the copper coin of doubtful character), also of a bronze vessel of undoubted Roman manufacture.
The Irish lake dwellings have, over and over again, yielded articles precisely similar to the annexed list,[16] but as a rule they are more prolific in objects of early manufacture, which, from their style of ornamentation, are commonly referred to a period from the fifth to the tenth century. Dr. Munro remarks, that although we cannot “argue definitely from the present geographical distribution of Scottish lake dwellings, the indications are so clearly suggestive of their having been peculiar to those districts formerly occupied by Celtic races, that the significance of this generalization cannot be overlooked.”