pencil of Professor A. Favre-Guillarmod we are indebted for all the designs with which this essay is embellished. Our types have been, as far as possible, selected

INTRODUCTION.

It has been long known to the inhabitants upon the shores of the Swiss lakes that there existed in many of them ancient posts or piles, which, without reaching the surface, rose to a height of 30 or 60 centimetres above the bottom. On Lake Neuchâtel they were especially known to the fishermen, who dreaded them as a cause of injury to their nets. Doubtless, also, boatmen, in crossing the bay of Auvernier, or coasting along the southern shore when the weather was calm, have now and then stopped for a moment above them, wondering meanwhile to whom the strange idea could have occurred of driving piles at such a depth; and as no inhabitant, not even the oldest fishermen, could tell anything about their origin, the only conclusion arrived at was that "all this must be very ancient." More than once, also, from the ooze of the lake had been drawn, at low water, large horns of the deer, and strange utensils whose origin was unknown; among other occasions, at the lake of Zurich in 1829, and stil later at the lake of Bienne. These things, however, remained a dead letter; the circumstance was thought to be curious, but nothing more. An idea has sufficed to restore life, in some sort, to these ancient remains, and draw from them a disclosure of surprising facts. A man of true science happens to pass in the neighborhood of the works which, during the low stages of water of the winter of 1853-1854, were in course of execution at Meilen, on Lake Zurich. To him are shown the half decomposed posts withdrawn from the black deposit on the strand, which the lake had temporarily abandoned, and here and there some fragments of rude pottery, evidently very ancient, but not Roman, for it is black, imperfectly baked, and fashioned by the hand without the help of the potter's wheel. The utensils, the arms, the posts, which accompany them, have a still more primitive aspect; they recall the analogous objects collected in the peatmosses of Scandinavia, and must, consequently, be of very high antiquity. What had escaped all notice was the relation which these objects bear to one

another, and especially to the piles imbedded in the ooze. Yet the arms and pottery are not dispersed at hazard; they are limited to a particular stratum, having a thickness of two feet, which has received the name of "archæological stratum," (Cultur-Schicht.) Moreover, they are accumulated around the piles, where they are found in large quantity, while they diminish and disappear in proportion as they retire from it. There was a connexion then between the

piles and the antique objects.

It was this connexion which our friend, M. Ferdinand Keller, guided by his practiced eye, was enabled to detect, and which, once caught sight of, has become the torch to conduct us to the discovery of a whole unknown world.

In effect, such an association of arms and utensils indicated beyond a doubt traces of man. The piles, upright in the midst of these objects, had been placed there by design, evidently to support some construction. But as their foundation is below the mean water level, they must necessarily have been planted in the water. There had existed, therefore, habitations or storehouses built intentionally on the water at the place indicated by the piles. The number of scattered utensils, corresponding to the thickness of the bed which contains them, bore witness, in turn, to a prolonged sojourn. Consequently, there had been an epoch during which the inhabitants of our country constructed places of refuge on the water, if, indeed, they did not dwell there. It was the period of lacustrian constructions.

The history of the sciences does not afford many examples of so brilliant an acquisition by human sagacity; it recalls that which, in another province, we owe to the genius of Cuvier. Long before this great naturalist the bones of mammals had been collected in the plaster-quarries of Montmartre; but no one had perceived the relations of these remains to one another, and to the medium in which they are concealed. They were looked upon as vestiges of the deluge. Cuvier studies these ancient and petrified skeletons, and recognizes in their association and manner of deposition the traces of a whole creation anterior to man. To the French naturalist some fossil bones had thus sufficed for the reconstruction of a phase of the history of the earth: some fragments of pottery, buried under the gravel of the lake of Zurich, sufficed to our own learned antiquary for the revelation of a forgotten cycle of humanity beyond the bounds of history. The hint being once given by the first publication of M. Keller,* in the Memoirs of the Archæological Society of Zurich, the zeal and activity of our Swiss antiquaries might safely be relied upou to elaborate this new vein, which, indeed, did not long delay to furnish us with scientific treasures. They began by seeking for piles in the other lakes of Switzerland. The fishermen could almost every where point them out, and these piles became, in turn, valuable guides in conducting to unexpected discoveries. At Meilen, with the exception of a single object in metal, only utensils of bone and stone had been brought to light. Elsewhere, and more especially in the lakes of eastern Switzerland, beside stations recalling those of Lake Zurich, were discovered other stations which, instead of objects in silex and bone, yielded numbers of utensils in bronze. These articles bore witness to a much more advanced civilization. The lacustrian period, therefore, embraced several distinct phases. It became an interesting problem to investigate, and fix, if possible, the peculiar character of these different phases or epochs. This work was everywhere pressed forward; discoveries rapidly multiplied, and gave rise to numerous publications devoted to the description of new stations, and the antiquities which they contained. Nor was the necessity of co-ordinating the facts obtained slow in making

*Die keltischen Pfahlbauten in den Schweizerseen.-Communications to the Antiquarian Society, Zurich, 1854.

itself felt, whence at present we are in possession of several systematic works on lacustrian constructions, which, while evincing the science and sagacity of their authors, have powerfully contributed to diffuse a taste for the study of this old world, scarcely resuscitated from the tomb of unrecorded centuries. Among the number of works which have obtained a well-merited success may be cited, as in the first rank, that of M. Troyon, (Habitations lacustres des temps anciens et modernes, Lausanne, 1860;) that of M. Morlot, (Etudes Geologico-Archæologiques en Danemark et en Suisse, Bulletins de la Societé Vaudoise des Sc. Nat., 1860;) to which may be now added a third, that of M. Schaub, (Die Pfahlbauten in den Schweizerseen, Zurich, 1864,) which is especially calculated to popularize throughout our country the study of lacustrian constructions.

The lake of Neuchâtel, thanks to the interest which the inhabitants of its shores cherish for the history of their native land, could not fail to stimulate interesting discoveries. There, pile-works were known to exist at many localities-at Bied, Cortaillod, Auvernier, Chez-le-Bart, St. Aubin, Concise, Corcelles, Corcelettes, Font, Estavayer, Forel, Chevroux, Port Alban, Cudrefin, which became so many fertile fields, in which inquiry was soon to be rewarded with abundant harvests. The low waters of 1858-1859 having facilitated the exploration of these several stations, collections were gradually formed at different points of the shore. It will suffice to mention those of the museum of Neuchâtel, of M. Troyon, of M. Portalés-Sandoz, at Lance; of Dr. Clement, at St. Aubin; of M. Rochat, at Yverdon; of MM. Rey and de Vevey, at Eştavayer, without counting our own, and the most complete of all, that of Colonel Schwab, at Bienne.

But how can habitations be conceived of at places now covered with water to the depth of two and three metres? The first question usually asked is, whether the waters of our lakes might not have been lower at the period referred to than at present? This suggestion led to the inquiry whether there existed at the outlet of these lakes obstacles which, by obstructing the rivers, may have raised the level of their waters. Land-slips have in fact been distinguished at the mouth of the Thielle,* and it has been attempted to establish a relation between these and the ancient encroachments at Nidau, as well as the remains of Roman roads in the grand marais, which are at present covered with peat. We are far from pretending that certain lakes of Switzerland have not undergone changes; perhaps that of Neuchâtel is of the number. But the fact must not be lost sight of, that the phenomenon in question is a general one, and as pilework exists in nearly all the lakes, it would follow that all had been obstructed at their outlet. Now, as this is not the case, we are forced to admit that the piles must have been sunk and secured under the water, and that consequently the constructions which they supported were really lacustrian. The diameter of the piles is in general too small to have supported constructions at all massive; there can be no question here, but of cabins of very frail character.†

At first glance, the idea may seem strange, if not absurd, that men should have established themselves on the water instead of pitching their tents or building their cabins on the terra firma; but closer reflection will enable us to comprehend that at the origin of the lacustrian period, at an epoch when the soil of Switzerland was covered with forests and the borders of the lakes probably occupied by marshes, these lacustrian abodes may have offered to their inhabitants a more secure asylum against the ambush of enemies and the attack

* See the article of M. Culmann, in the Schweizerische Polytechnische Zeitschrift, 111, pp. 9 and 10, on the bar of the Pfeidwald, near Nidase.

For the form and appearance of these constructions we refer to the descriptions and figures which have been published by MM. Keller, Troyon, and Lyell.

of savage animals. At a later period, the epoch of bronze, these stations, as will be seen, served probably for simple magazines or places of assemblage * The idea of comparing the antiquities of our lakes with those found in so great number in the islands of Denmark would naturally present itself to the minds of our antiquaries. As soon as it was recognized that there existed, with reference to their utensils, striking differences between the stations, some yielding only arms and objects of silex or bone, others containing utensils and arms of metal, especially of bronze, though sometimes also of iron, it could no longer be supposed that these stations were cotemporaneous; they could but corre spond to successive periods of development, having each its distinctive character. Hence, as in the north, three epochs were distinguished: the age of stone, the age of bronze, and the age of iron.t The lake of Neuchâtel has the preroga tive, among all the lakes of Switzerland, of comprising stations of the three ages, thus enabling us to follow, within a circumscribed space, the development of humanity during the remote epochs which preceded historic times.

I. AGE OF STONE.

The stations of the age of stone, though not as numerous as in eastern Switzerland, are not wanting in the lake of Neuchâtel. To the station of Concise, which has yielded since 1859 a considerable quantity of utensils of silex and bone, have been added several others, especially those of Neuchâtel, Hauterive, Cortaillod, Auvernier, Bevaix, Chez-le-Bart, Corcelles, Estavayer, Chevroux, Cudrefin, and at Lake Morat, Greng.

These stations have with us a particular stamp, whigh admits of their being easily recognized. They are, in general, less extensive than those of the age of bronze; not so distant from the shore, nor so deep, being at a depth not exceeding two metres below the mean level of the water. But what chiefly distinguishes them is the quality of the piles, which are much larger than those of the stations of bronze, consisting frequently of entire trunks of 25 and 30 centimetres in diameter. Instead of forming a projection in the water, they are level with the bottom, so that, notwithstanding their size, some experience is requisite to distinguish them amidst the stones which surround them. These stones themselves constitute an important character of the epoch; it is evident, from a mere inspection, that they have been heaped up by the agency of man. tested as well by their distribution, which is always distinctly circumscribed, while sand or mud prevails around, as by their variety in form and appearancesome being rounded, others angular. The process employed was probably of

This is at

*It should be remembered that the ancient occupants of our own soil are not alone in their preference of aquatic habitations. There are populations of the Pacific ocean among whom this usage exists at the present day. The Indians of Venezuela construct their cabins preferably on the water, as a refuge from the flies, and we are told by Herodotus that the ancient people of Thrace had the same custom. "The Peonians of Lake Prasias," says the father of history, "could not be subjugated by Megabysus. Their habitations are constructed in the following manner: Upon tall posts sunk in the lake they fix a scaffolding which communicates with the shore by a single bridge. Each has his cabin with a trap-door opening upon the lake, and lest their children should fall into the water through this aperture, they tie them by the feet with a cord." See also Hippocrates, Opera Omnia, Ed. Kuhn, I, p. 551: 66 The riparians of Pharos," says the father of medicine, "lived in marshes, where they inhabited houses of wood and of reeds above the water, traversing the river in pi rogues; their health suffered much from this kind of life."

This division into three distinct ages has been contested by M. de Hochstetter, who thinks that the difference should not be attributed to separate epochs, but to differences of class. To this pretended cotemporaneity M. Keller (6th Report, p. 7) properly objects that there is a series of lacustrian constructions in which there exists not the least trace of bronze. With us this is, indeed, most frequently the case.

The teneviére of Auvernier measures 80 metres in diameter; that of Hauterive is greater and of less regular outline.

the simplest kind; the stones were collected on the shore and transported to the designated place by means of pirogues or hollowed trees. There they were heaped around large posts which were placed upright, and were simply secured in place by this coacervation. The result is observed at all the stations of stone in our lake, in the formation of prominences or small hillocks, which are designated on the southern shores by the name of tenevières,† at Courtaillod by that of pervous‡, while at the lake of Bienne they are denominated steinberge, signifying mountains of stone. This mode of construction was the only one practicable wherever the soil is of rock, as is the case at a number of points on the southern shore of the lake, at Monruz, Hauterive, Neuchâtel, where the banks of urgonian limestone approach so near the surface that it is impossible to drive piles.§ Elsewhere, if the bottom was of ooze, as is especially the case in eastern Switzerland, it sufficed to sink the posts in the ground itself without the support of stones. In this case there is no steinberg, in the proper acceptation of the word; but the stations are not less distinguishable from their slight depth and proximity to the shore, which is the cause of their being sometimes left dry at low water, as was the case in 1863 at Markelfingen, on Lake Constance. The two stations of the small lake of Moosseedorf, where M. Uhlmann has gathered so ample a harvest of curious objects of the age of stone, show the same state of things; as the soil was favorable, the piles, after being pointed, were simply driven into it. Recent explorations have just disclosed the same thing at the Lake of Morat. Count de Pourtalés having proposed to form an island in front of his park of Greng, it was quite natural to select, as a nucleus, the point where the water was of least depth. This was the summit of a spacious teneviere, which occupies, it seems, a surface of several arpents, since, in excavating around the space reserved for the isle, there are still found numbers of piles. These are cut to a point, and sunk in the bottom of the lake, which consists of very fine sand. Here also a passage of deeper water separates the place occupied by piles from the shore; while the piles which are withdrawn present distinct traces of blows made with the hatchet.

Here an objection will scarcely fail to occur; if the tenevieres trace their origin to the age of stone, when not only iron but even bronze was unknown, and only knives and hatchets of stone could be used, how was it possible, with such implements, to cut trees a foot in diameter, even supposing the concomitant action of fire to have been employed, as is done by many savage tribes. We will not deny that, at first, this difficulty occasioned us no little embarrassment. But having examined attentively and separately the tops of the piles in many tenevieres, we remarked a peculiarity, which seems to us capable of solving the difficulty. The piles are not cut squarely, but around their circumference (to a depth of 8 or 12 centimetres;) the centre, on the other hand, is often unequal, sometimes protruding, sometimes re-entering, having the appearance, therefore, of a post which had been notched circularly, and then broken. But as soon as

* There are a number of these pirogues in the lake of Bienne. One of them, near isle Saint Pierre, is still loaded with stones, which has led to the supposition that it had foundered with its cargo. Another has been recently taken from the lake, and forms part of the collection of Neuchâtel. We have ourselves taken one from the station of Auvernier; it is formed from the trunk of an oak, the wood of which is decomposed to the depth of five or six inches; but the centre is only so much the harder and completely black, insomuch that it might serve for material to the carpenter.

t In the idiom of the fishermen of Estavayer, this word signifies a submerged hillock-a site where the water is quite shallow.

This name is also given to heaps of stone on terra firma, when they are of large dimensions; the smaller are called morgiers.

§ Several of these steinbergs continued to be inhabited or used during the following ages-among others, the steinberg of Nidau, where are found at the same time remains of the age of stone, of bronze, and of iron. These results are corroborated by very recent researches which we have made in the lakes of Bavaria. The isle of Roses, in Lake Starnberg, appears to be nothing but an artificial island of those remote epochs, which has never ceased to be inhabited during all succeeding periods, and is at this day the site of a regal habitation.