The Sources of Information at our Disposal for reconstructing the
History of the Bronze Epoch--The Lacustrine Settlements of
Switzerland--Enumeration and Classification of them--Their Mode of
Construction--Workmanship and Position of the Piles--Shape and Size
of the Huts--Population--Instruments of Stone, Bone, and Stag's
Horn--Pottery--Clothing--Food--_Fauna_--Domestic Animals.
In endeavouring to trace out the early history of the human race we
naturally turn our attention to all the means of investigation which
either study or chance have placed at our disposal. Grottos and caves,
the rock-shelters, the ancient camps, the centres of flint-working, the
Scandinavian kitchen-middens, the _dolmens_, and the _tumuli_--all have
lent their aid in affording those elements for the representation of the
earliest epoch of the history of primitive man which we have already
considered. The data which we shall resort to for delineating the bronze
epoch will be of a different kind.
Among all the sources of authentic information as to the manners and
customs of man in his earliest existence, none, certainly, are more
curious than those ancient remains which have lately been brought to
light and explored, and have received the name of _lacustrine
dwellings_.
The question may be asked, what are these _lacustrine dwellings_, and in
what way do they serve to elucidate the history of the bronze epoch?
These are just the points which we are about to explain.
The most important discoveries have often depended on very slight
causes. This assertion, although it has been made common by frequent
repetition, is none the less perfectly correct. To what do we owe the
knowledge of a multitude of curious details as to pre-historic peoples?
To an accidental and unusual depression of the temperature in
Switzerland. But we will explain.
The winter of 1853-1854 was, in Switzerland, so dry and cold that the
waters of the lakes fell far below their ordinary level. The inhabitants
of Meilen, a place situated on the banks of the Lake of Zurich, took
advantage of this circumstance, and gained from the lake a tract of
ground, which they set to work to raise and surround with banks.
In carrying out these works they found in the mud at the bottom of the
lake a number of piles, some thrown down and others still upright,
fragments of rough pottery, bone and stone instruments, and various
other relics similar to those found in the Danish peat-bogs.
This extraordinary accumulation of objects of all kinds on the dried bed
of the lake appeared altogether inexplicable, and every one was at fault
in their remarks; but Dr. Keller of Zurich, having examined the objects,
at once came to a right understanding as to their signification. It was
evident to him that they belonged to pre-historic times. By an
association of ideas which no one had previously dreamt of, he perceived
that a relation existed between the piles and the other relics
discovered in the vicinity, and saw clearly that both dated back to the
same epoch. He thus came to the conclusion, that the ancient inhabitants
of the Lake of Zurich were in the habit of constructing dwellings over
the water, and that the same custom must have existed as regards the
other Swiss lakes.
This idea was developed by Dr. Keller in five very remarkable memoirs,
which were published in German.[31]
This discovery was the spark which lighted up a torch destined to
dissipate the darkness which hung over a long-protracted and
little-known period of man's history.
Previous to the discovery made on the dried-up bed of the Lake of
Zurich, various instruments and singular utensils had been obtained from
the mud of some of the lakes of Switzerland, and piles had often been
noticed standing up in the depth of the water; but no one had been able
to investigate these vestiges of another age, or had had any idea of
ascribing to them anything like the remote antiquity which has since
been recognised as belonging to them. To Dr. Keller the honour is due of
having interpreted these facts in their real bearing, at a time when
every one else looked upon them as nothing but objects of curiosity. It
is, therefore, only just to pronounce the physician of Zurich to have
been the first originator of pre-historic archæological science in
Switzerland.
In 1854, after the publication of Dr. Keller's first article, the Swiss
lakes were explored with much energy, and it was not long before
numerous traces of human settlements were discovered. At the present day
more than 200 are known, and every year fresh ones are being found.[32]
Thanks to the activity which has been shown by a great number of
observers, magnificent collections have been formed of these
archæological treasures. The fishermen of the lakes have been
acquainted, for many years back, with the sites of some of these
settlements, in consequence of having, on many occasions, torn their
nets on the piles sticking up in the mud. Numerous questions were asked
them, and they were taken as guides to the different spots, and ere long
a whole system of civilisation, heretofore unknown, emerged from the
beds of the Swiss lakes.
Among the lakes which have furnished the largest quantity of relics of
pre-historic ages, we may mention that of Neuchâtel, in which, in 1867,
no less than forty-six settlements were counted; in Lake Constance
(thirty-two settlements); in the Lake of Geneva (twenty-four
settlements); in the Lake of Bienne, canton of Berne (twenty
settlements); in the Lake of Morat, canton of Fribourg (eight
settlements).
Next come several other lakes of less importance. The Lake of Zurich
(three settlements); the Lake of Pfæffikon, canton of Zurich (four
settlements); the Lake of Sempach, canton of Lucerne (four settlements);
the Lake of Moosseedorf, canton of Berne (two settlements); the Lake of
Inkwyl, near Soleure (one settlement); the Lake of Nussbaumen, canton of
Thurgau (one settlement); the Lake of Zug, &c.
Pile-work has also been discovered in former lakes now transformed into
peat-bogs. We must place in this class the peat-bog of Wauwyl, canton of
Lucerne (five settlements).
We will mention, in the last place, the settlement at the bridge of
Thièle, on the water-course which unites the lakes of Bienne and
Neuchâtel. This settlement must once have formed a portion of the Lake
of Bienne, at the time when the latter extended as far as the bridge of
Thièle.
The lacustrine villages of Switzerland do not all belong to the same
period. The nature of the remains that they contain indubitably prove
that some are far more ancient than others. The vestiges have been
discovered of three successive epochs--the polished-stone epoch and the
epochs of bronze and of iron.
The lacustrine settlements of Switzerland, when considered under the
heads of the various pre-historical epochs to which they belong, may be
divided in the following way:--
_The Stone Age_:--The Lake of Constance (about thirty settlements); the
Lake of Neuchâtel (twelve settlements); the Lake of Geneva (two
settlements); the Lake of Morat (one settlement); the lakes of Bienne,
Zurich, Pfæffikon, Inkwyl, Moosseedorf, Nussbaumen, Wanger, &c.; the
settlements of Saint-Aubin and Concise, the peat-bog of Wauwyl, and the
settlement at the Bridge of Thièle.
_The Bronze Epoch_:--The Lake of Geneva (twenty settlements); the Lake
of Neuchâtel (twenty-five settlements); the Lake of Bienne (ten
settlements); also the lakes of Morat and Sempach.
_The Iron Epoch_:--The lakes of Neuchâtel and Bienne.
It may appear strange that the primitive inhabitants of Switzerland
should have preferred aquatic dwellings to habitations built on _terra
firma_, which could certainly have been constructed much more easily.
Further on in our work we shall have something to say as to the
advantages which men might derive from such a peculiar arrangement of
their dwellings; but we may now remark that this custom was somewhat
prevalent among the earliest inhabitants of Europe. Ancient history
furnishes us with several instances of it. Herodotus, speaking of the
Pæonians, of the Lake Prasias, in Thrace, says:--
"Their habitations are built in the following way. On long piles, sunk
into the bottom of the lake, planks are placed, forming a floor; a
narrow bridge is the means of access to them. These piles used to be
fixed by the inhabitants at their joint expense; but afterwards it was
settled that each man should bring three from Mount Orbelus for every
woman whom he married. Plurality of wives, be it observed, was permitted
in this country. On these planks each has his hut with a trap-door down
into the lake; and lest any of their children should fall through this
opening they took care to attach a cord to their feet. They used to feed
their horses and beasts of burden on fish. In this lake fish was so
abundant that if a basket was let down through the trap-door it might be
drawn up a short time afterwards filled with fish."
Sir J. Lubbock, repeating the statement of one of his friends who
resides at Salonica, asserts that the fishermen of the Lake Prasias
still inhabit wooden huts built over the water, as in the time of
Herodotus. There is nothing improbable in this, since the town of
Tcherkask in Russia is constructed in a similar way over the River Don,
and Venice itself is nothing but a lacustrine city built during historic
times over a lagune of the Adriatic sea.
We may add that even in modern times this custom of building villages on
piles still exists in some parts of the world. According to the evidence
of Dampier and Dumont d'Urville, habitations built on piles are to be
met with in New Guinea, Celebes, Ceram, Mindanao, the Caroline Islands,
&c. The city of Borneo is, indeed, entirely built on this plan. In some
of the isles of the Pacific Ocean there are several tribes of savages
who likewise make their dwellings over water. The Indians of Venezuela
have adopted this custom with the sole intention of sheltering
themselves from the mosquitoes.
It is quite permissible to suppose that the need for security was the
motive which induced the ancient inhabitants of Switzerland, and other
countries, thus to make settlements and live upon the lakes. Surrounded
as they were by vast marshes and impenetrable forests, they lived in
dread of the attacks of numerous wild beasts. They therefore taxed their
ingenuity to insure their safety as far as they possibly could, and no
means appeared more efficacious than that of surrounding themselves with
water. At a subsequent period, when men commenced to make war against
one another, these aquatic habitations became still more valuable. They
then constituted something in the nature of camps or fortification in
which, being well-protected from all danger of sudden surprise, the
people of the country could defy the efforts of their enemies.
We must, however, add, that in more recent times these buildings on
piles were--according to M. Desor--used only as storehouses for utensils
and provisions; the actual dwellings for men being built on _terra
firma_.
These lacustrine dwellings are designated under various names by
different authors. Dr. Keller, who was the first to describe them, gave
them in German the name of _pfahlbauten_ (buildings on piles) which the
Italians have translated by the word _palafitta_. This latter
appellation, when gallicized by M. Desor, becomes _palafitte_. Lastly,
the name _ténevières_ or _steinbergs_ (mountains of stone) is given to
constructions of a peculiar character in which the piles are kept up by
masses of stone which have been brought to the spot. By Dr. Keller, this
latter kind are called _packwerkbauten_.
When we examine as a whole the character of the lacustrine settlements
which have hitherto been discovered, it may, in fact, be perceived that
those who built them proceeded on two different systems of construction;
either, they buried the piles very deeply in the bed of the lake, and on
these piles placed the platform which was to support their huts; or,
they artificially raised the bed of the lake by means of heaps of
stones, fixing in these heaps somewhat large stakes, not so much for the
purpose of supporting the habitations themselves as with a view of
making the heaps of stones a firm and compact body.
[Illustration: Fig. 148.--Section of the _Ténevière_ of Hauterive.]
This latter mode of construction is represented in fig. 148, taken from
a design given by M. Desor in his remarkable work 'Les Palafittes.'[33]
One or the other of these modes of construction was employed according
to the nature of the bed of the lake. In lakes with a muddy bottom, the
first plan could be easily employed; but when the bed was rocky, it was
necessary to have recourse to the second. This is the reason why on the
northern shore of the Lake of Neuchâtel, where the banks of limestone
come very close to the surface, a comparatively large number of
_ténevières_ may be observed.
These are the facts as generally noticed, especially in wide and deep
lakes; the edifice, however, was not always constructed in this mode. In
marshes and small lakes, which have now become peat-bogs, another system
was frequently applied, a remarkable instance of which is furnished by
the peat-moss at Wauwyl. In this locality were found several
quadrangular spaces very distinctly enclosed by piles, between which
were raised as many as five platforms one above the other. These piles
are naturally very long, and some are buried as much as seven feet in
the solid ground--an operation which must have required an enormous
amount of labour. The intervals between the platforms are filled up with
boughs of trees and clay, and the floors themselves are made in nearly
the same way as those we have before mentioned. The lowest rested
directly on the bed of the lake, and on the upper one the huts were
placed.
It is sometimes the case that these heaps of stones rise above the
water; they then form perfect artificial islands, and the habitations
which covered them are no longer, properly speaking, dwellings on piles.
Of this kind is the station on the Lake of Inkwyl in Switzerland; of
this kind, also, are the _crannoges_ of Ireland, of which we shall
subsequently make special mention. Some of these artificial islands have
braved the destructive action of ages, and are still inhabited at the
present time. M. Desor mentions the Isle of Roses in the Lake of
Starnberg (Bavaria) which has never been known to have been unfrequented
by man; it now contains a royal residence.
Let us revert to the mode of construction of the aquatic dwellings of
Switzerland.
In all probability the stones used were conveyed to the required spot by
means of canoes made of hollowed-out trunks of trees. Several of these
canoes may still be seen at the bottom of Lake Bienne, and one, indeed,
is still laden with pebbles, which leads us to think that it must have
foundered with its cargo. But it is very difficult to raise these canoes
from the bottom, and it is, besides, probable that when exposed to the
open air they would fall to dust. Nevertheless, one of them is exhibited
in the Museum at Neuchâtel.
In the Museum at Saint-Germain there is a canoe very similar to that of
Neuchâtel. It is made out of the trunk of a hollow tree. A second canoe,
very like the first, but with the bark still on it, and in a bad state
of preservation, lies in the entry of the same Museum of Saint-Germain.
It was taken out of the Seine, as we stated when speaking in a previous
chapter of the first discovery of the art of navigation during the Stone
Age.
It may very easily be explained how the constructors went to work in
felling the trees and converting them into piles. M. Desor has remarked
that the pieces of wood composing the piles are cut cleanly through
round their circumference only; the central part shows inequalities just
like those which are noticed when a stick is broken in two by the hand
after having been cut into all round the outside. The builders of the
lacustrine villages, therefore, when they wanted to fell a tree must
have acted much as follows: having cut all round it to a depth of 3 or 4
inches, they fixed a cord to the top, and broke the tree down by
forcibly pulling at the upper part. They then cut it through in the same
way with stone or bronze hatchets, giving it the requisite length,
hewing it into a point at one end so that it should more easily
penetrate the mud. Sometimes a fire applied to the base of the tree
prepared for, and facilitated, the effect of the sharp instruments used.
A great number of the piles that have been found still bear the marks of
the fire and the cuts made by stone hatchets. In constructing the
_ténevières_, the labour of pointing the piles was needless, as the
latter were thoroughly wedged in by the accumulation of stones of which
we gave a representation in fig. 148.
When the piles were prepared, they had to be floated to the spot fixed
upon for the village, and to be fixed in the bed of the lake. If we
consider that, in many cases, the length of these piles reached to as
much as 16 or 20 feet, some idea may be formed of the difficulty of an
undertaking of this kind. In the construction of the _ténevières_ much
thicker piles were used, and the labour was much less difficult. For
instance, in the more ancient _ténevières_ of the Lake of Neuchâtel
piles are found made of whole trunks of trees which measure 10 to 12
inches in diameter.
The mind is almost confused when it endeavours to sum up the amount of
energy and strong will which the primitive population of Switzerland
must have bestowed on constructing, unaided as they were by metal
implements, the earliest lacustrine settlements, some of which are of
very considerable extent. The settlement of Morges, one of the largest
in the Lake of Geneva, is not less than 71,000 square yards in area.
That of Chabrey, in the Lake of Neuchâtel, measures about 60,000 square
yards; another, in the same lake, 48,000 yards; and, lastly, a third,
that of La Tène, 36,000 yards. There are many others which are smaller,
although of respectable dimensions.
The number of piles which must have been used in some of these
constructions is really surprising. M. Löhle has calculated that in the
single lacustrine village of Wangen, in the Lake of Constance, at least
40,000 piles have been fixed, and that several generations must have
been necessary to terminate the work. The more reasonable interpretation
to give to a fact of this kind is that Wangen, which was very thinly
populated at first, increased in size gradually as the numbers of
inhabitants augmented. The same remark may be doubtless applied to all
the important stations.
This was the plan employed in building a single habitation. When a whole
village had to be built in the open water, a methodical course of action
was adopted. They began by placing a certain number of piles parallel to
the shore, and these they at once threw across the bridge which was
intended to connect the village with the land, thus rendering the
carriage of the materials much less difficult.
When the bridge was finished, and before fixing all the piles, the
platform was commenced immediately; this constituted a base of
operations, by the help of which the pile work could more easily be
finished.
This platform was raised 3 or 4 feet above the surface of the water, so
as to obviate any danger arising from the waves during a tempest. It was
generally composed of branches and trunks of trees not squared, and
bound horizontally to each other, the whole cemented together with clay;
sometimes, also, they used thick rough slabs, which were obtained by
splitting trunks of trees with wedges. The platform was fixed firmly on
the pile-work, and in some cases wooden pegs were used to fasten
together the largest pieces of timber, so that the cohesion and
incorporation of the floor were rendered more complete. As soon as the
esplanade was finished, they then proceeded to the construction of the
huts.
The huts must have opened on to the platform by doors. Did they possess
windows? Nothing is known as to this point. But in all probability there
was an opening at the top of the roof, through which the smoke of the
fire made its way. To avoid any fear of conflagration, a stone
fire-place was placed in the middle of each dwelling. The daylight must
have come in through the hole in the roof in a quantity almost
sufficient to cause the absence of windows to be not much felt.
In each habitation, there was, no doubt, a trap-door in direct
communication with the lake, such as those which existed in the
dwellings of the Pæonians described by Herodotus. Under this trap-door
there was a reservoir made of osiers, intended for the preservation of
fish.
As the inhabitants of the lacustrine villages only lived upon the water
with a view of increasing their security, it would be absurd to suppose
that they would construct a large number of bridges between their
aquatic settlement and the banks of the lake. There must have been, in
general, but one bridge for each of these lake villages.
How were the huts constructed, and what were their shape and dimensions?
These questions certainly seem difficult to answer, for, as may be well
imagined, no specimen of these ancient dwellings has been preserved to
our days. Nevertheless, a few relics, insignificant in appearance,
enable us to reply to these inquiries in a way more or less
satisfactory.
Everything seems to indicate that the huts were formed of trunks of
trees placed upright, one by the side of the other, and bound together
horizontally by interwoven branches. A coating of earth covered this
wattling.
It has been fancied, from the imprint left by some of the branches which
were used in building these huts, that it might be inferred that they
were circular, like those which historians attribute to the ancient
Gauls. This was Troyon's opinion, and at first Dr. Keller's also. This
author has even sketched a circular hut in a plate representing a
restored lacustrine habitation, which accompanies one of his memoirs.
Sir C. Lyell, also, has reproduced this same plate in the frontispiece
of his work on the 'Antiquity of Man.' But Dr. Keller has subsequently
abandoned this idea, and in another of his memoirs he has supplied a
fresh design showing nothing but huts with flat or sloping roofs.
From this latter plate, taken from Dr. Keller's work, we here give a
representation of a Swiss lacustrine village (fig. 149).
[Illustration: Fig. 149--A Swiss Lake Village of the Bronze Epoch.]
The suggestions for this reconstructive sketch were furnished to Dr.
Keller not only by various scientific indications, but also and
especially by a drawing made by Dumont d'Urville among the Papuans of
New Guinea.
According to Dr. Keller, during the last century there still existed on
the river Limmat, near Zurich, some fishermen's huts built in a similar
way to those of the lacustrine villages.
What might have been the population of one of these settlements? This
estimate M. Troyon endeavoured to make--an undertaking of a very
interesting nature. He adopted as the base of his calculations the
lacustrine village of Morges (Lake of Geneva), which, as we have already
stated, had an area of 71,000 square yards. Allowing that only one-half
of this area was occupied by huts, the other half being reserved for
gangways between the dwellings, and assuming an average diameter of 16
feet for each hut, M. Troyon reckoned the number of dwellings in the
pre-historic village of Morges at 311. Next, supposing that four
individuals lived in each hut, the total amount of population he arrived
at was 1244 inhabitants.
We might very justly be surprised if men of the bronze epoch, who were
provided with metallic weapons, and were consequently in a much better
position for resisting any violent attack, had continued to dwell
exclusively in the midst of the water, and should not, to some extent,
have dispersed over _terra firma_, which is man's natural
standing-ground. It was, therefore, nothing more than might have been
expected, when the discovery was made of the relics of dwellings upon
land, containing remains of the bronze epoch. This discovery, in fact,
took place, and those investigating the subject came to the conclusion
that the valleys of Switzerland, as well as the lakes, were occupied
during this period by an industrious and agricultural people.
At Ebersberg, canton of Zurich, there was discovered--which is a very
curious fact--the remains of an ancient settlement situated on _terra
firma_, and containing utensils similar to those found in the lacustrine
settlements. In 1864, Dr. Clement searched several mounds composed of
pebbles bearing the traces of fire; these mounds were situated in the
neighbourhood of Gorgier (canton of Neuchâtel). One of these mounds has
furnished various objects of bronze intermingled with fragments of
charcoal, especially a bracelet and some sickles characterised by a
projection or set-off at the spring of the blade.
On the plateau of Granges (canton of Soleure), Dr. Schild studied a
certain spot which he considers to be the site of an ancient bronze
foundry; for, besides finding there pebbles and calcined earth, he also
discovered a number of reaping-hooks made with a shoulder, and also a
fragment of a sword and four finely-made knives.
A hatchet-knife was likewise found in the gorge of the Seyon, near
Neuchâtel; and a bracelet in the vicinity of Morges (canton of Geneva).
Some other bracelets, accompanied by calcined human bones, were
discovered near Sion, in the Valais.
Lastly, M. Thioly obtained from a cave of Mont Salève, near Geneva,
numerous fragments of pottery of the bronze epoch; and in a grotto on
the banks of the Reuse, in the canton of Neuchâtel, M. Otz found relics
of pottery of very fine clay, along with a quantity of bones.
Thus the people of this epoch did not dwell exclusively in settlements
made over the water. They also were in the habit of building habitations
on _terra firma_, and of furnishing them with everything which was
necessary for existence.
All the facts which have been observed in Switzerland may, doubtless, be
applied generally; and it may be said that during the bronze epoch the
nature of man's habitation became decidedly fixed. The caves of the
great bear and mammoth period, and the rock-shelters of the reindeer and
polished-stone periods were now succeeded by dwelling-places which
differ but little from those of the more civilised peoples who commence
the era of historic times.
FOOTNOTES:
[31] 'Pfahlbauten,' Zurich, 1854-1856.
[32] Various distinguished _savants_ have taken upon themselves the task
of making known to the public the results of these unceasing
investigations, and of bringing before the eyes of the present
generation the ancient civilisation of the Swiss valleys. Among the
works which have best attained this end, we must mention Troyon's
'Habitations Lacustres des Temps anciens et modernes,' Morlot's 'Etudes
Géologico-archéologiques en Danemark et en Suisse,' and M. Desor's
'Palafittes, ou Constructions Lacustres du Lac de Neuchâtel.' These
works, which have been translated into various languages, contain a
statement of all the archæological discoveries which have been made in
Switzerland.
[33] 'Les Palafittes, ou Constructions Lacustres du Lac de Neuchâtel.'
Paris, 1865.