The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in offering me the Rhind
lectureship in Archæology for the year 1888, left me no choice of a
subject, as they had already suggested that the course should be on
the "Lake-dwellings of Europe." Their communication embodying this
proposal came upon me with complete surprise, and, indeed, it was with
considerable misgiving that I pondered over the undertaking, because
at that time I had no special knowledge of lake-dwellings beyond
Scotland. But the kind encouragement of friends and the fact that I
had two years to collect the necessary materials, ultimately overcame
my scruples; and so with the acceptance of this appointment the work
now offered to the public may be said to have been begun. My first
and almost immediate step was a hasty run to the principal centres of
lake-dwelling researches in Europe, so as to get a preliminary idea
of the best and most practical way of carrying out this work. It was
only then that the magnitude of the labours I had undertaken dawned
upon me. The relics from the more important settlements, with few
exceptions, were so widely scattered that, to form an intelligible
notion of the civilisation and culture of their inhabitants from a
study of their industrial remains, scores of museums and private
collections had to be visited. Nor was the condition of the literature
and records of the various discoveries more favourable to my purpose.
The successive investigations by different parties in the more
prolific stations were constantly altering the previous records and,
in some instances, even falsified the earlier deductions founded on
them. Again, descriptive notices were directed more to illustrate
the particular and rarer finds of the investigator than to convey to
general readers a fair estimate of the _tout-ensemble_ of any special
station. Keller's earlier reports were really exhaustive monographs,
but by-and-by the subject became so extensive that to carry out the
work on the same scale would entail the publication of many volumes.
In 1866, when Mr. Lee translated and arranged Keller's first six
reports, his work was fairly representative of the progress then made
in lake-dwelling researches; but to keep pace with this progress
a second edition at the end of the following decade assumed the
magnitude of two large volumes.
Since then, however (1878), the results of lacustrine researches have
been greater and more important than during any previous corresponding
period. The "Correction des Eaux du Jura," together with various
harbour alterations in the lakes of Zürich, Geneva, etc., have
been the means of enormously increasing the lacustrine collections
of Switzerland. In North Italy not only have new and remarkably
interesting lacustrine stations been discovered and exhaustively
investigated, as Lagozza and Polada, but the researches in the
terremare have been such as to entirely alter the previous opinions
held in regard to them. Nor has the progress in this field of research
in many other countries in Europe been scarcely less important, in
proof of which I have only to mention the additions made to the
Scottish and Irish crannogs; the curious fascine structures brought
to light in Holderness, Yorkshire; the novel revelations extracted
from the _terp_ mounds in Holland and other low-lying districts on
the coast of the German Ocean; the greatly extended and more accurate
details of lacustrine structures in North Germany; the discovery in
Hungary of prehistoric mounds analogous to the terramara deposits of
Italy, etc. In short there is hardly any corner of the lake-dwelling
area in Europe which has not yielded new materials, throwing more or
less light on this strange phase of prehistoric life.
In these circumstances I resolved to proceed _de novo_, and to
construct my story of the lake-dwellings from whatever trustworthy
sources I could lay my hands on. In order to carry out this intention
my wife and I perambulated the whole of Central Europe with note and
sketch books in hand, visiting, as far as practicable, the sites
of lake-dwellings, and searching museums and libraries wherever we
thought their relics or records were to be found. The eastern limit
of the region thus visited may be represented by a line drawn from
Königsberg to Trieste, passing through the intermediate towns of
Krakow, Buda-Pesth, and Agram. The materials brought together from
within this area are, to a very considerable extent, absolutely new
to British archæologists. Of course, in a work which aims at putting
into the hands of general readers an epitome of the essential facts
and results of lacustrine researches since these singular remains were
discovered in Europe, I had to take cognisance of some investigations
that have already been fully recorded and illustrated. As it was
impossible to illustrate typical groups of objects from all the
lacustrine stations, I have, as a rule, in selecting the illustrations
for this work, avoided those that have already come within the
reach of English readers through the translation of Keller's works,
except when they belonged to stations that are the best or only
representatives of their kind in their respective localities--as,
for example, the Rosen Insel in the Lake of Starnberg. Acting on
this principle, I have given very few illustrations of objects from
Nidau, Moosseedorf, St. Aubin, Wauwyl; nor, for the same reason, is
a prominent place given to the earlier discoveries at Robenhausen,
Estavayer, Concise, Cortaillod, etc. In this way I have endeavoured to
combine in the work now issued as much novelty as possible, without
detracting from its general and comprehensive scope.
As our peripatetic labours drew to a close, the next point to be
considered was the method of grouping the materials under six
divisions, corresponding with the prescribed number of lectures.
This was by no means an easy task, as neither the geographical
distribution, nor the historical order of the discoveries, could be
exclusively selected as a cementing element in dealing with remains
so diversified in character and of so wide a range in space and
time. The plan which I have here adopted seems to me to combine the
greatest advantages with the fewest drawbacks. Its rationale is as
follows:--After introducing my subject by a short account of the
circumstances that led to the discovery of the _Pfahlbauten_ in
the Lake of Zürich, and glancing at the archæological importance
and surprising results of this discovery in other Swiss lakes, the
historical element is dropped, and I conduct my readers over Western
Switzerland and Savoy, summarising the discoveries in the successive
lakes as we move along. In the second lecture we again start near the
same place and continue our explorations in an easterly direction, and
having examined the Upper Rhine district we cross over to the great
Danubian basin, which we follow downwards as far as the lacustrine
trail carries us, and ultimately finish with Laibach near the source
of the Drave. The third lecture is entirely occupied with the
palafittes and terremare in the Po valley. In these wanderings we have
virtually made a circuit of the great Alpine chain of mountains, and
have seen that the habit of constructing lake-dwellings was prevalent
in the upper reaches of the four principal waterways which diverge
from its flanks, viz. the Rhine, Rhone, Danube, and Po.
The lake-dwelling area thus surveyed comprises all the remains that
can unequivocally be said to belong to the primary development of
these structures in Europe, their period of existence being almost
exclusively confined to the prehistoric ages of Stone and Bronze.
Such being the case, this might be a suitable opportunity for
offering some general remarks on the culture and civilisation of
their inhabitants; but this I defer to the final lecture, thinking
it preferable before doing so to acquaint my readers with various
details of analogous remains brought to light in other districts in
Europe. Accordingly in the fourth lecture we continue our geographical
wanderings. Again starting in Switzerland we discuss the peculiar
remains found in La Tène, almost the only exception to the ordinary
_Pfahlbauten_ of the Stone and Bronze ages encountered in our previous
tour; and thence, moving northwards by the lower Rhine district, we
pass to North Germany, where we meet with settlements apparently
belonging to all ages. The fifth lecture is exclusively devoted to
an exposition of the crannogs and lake-dwellings within the British
Isles. In these five lectures we have thus surveyed the entire area
in Europe in which the remains of ancient lake-dwellings have been
discovered in modern times.
Excepting the well-known reports of Keller and a few monographs
on particular stations or districts, the entire literature of the
subject may be said to lie buried in the Transactions of learned
societies. Having to hunt up and peruse most of these obscure and
almost inaccessible articles--the number and extent of which may
be estimated by a glance at the accompanying bibliography--it
occurred to me that, by tabulating all the works and notices of
these researches in chronological sequence, under the names of their
respective authors and with correct references to their published
sources, I might be conferring some benefit on future investigators,
while supplying myself with a simple and ready means of referring to
authorities, without the necessity of having to repeat over and over
again the voluminous titles of publications. Hence the origin of the
bibliography appended to this work, which, however imperfect, will, I
trust, considerably enhance its value. Its compilation has given me a
great deal of trouble, and the only valuable assistance I derived from
other publications of the kind was from Pigorini's "Bibliography of
Italian Archæology," which, unfortunately, comes down only to 1874.
There remains now only the pleasant duty of thanking those who
have assisted me in bringing the work, so far, to a satisfactory
conclusion. On this score my obligations are very great.
(1) In collecting the materials on the Continent my work was greatly
facilitated by introductory notes from and to eminent archæologists,
and among those who so honoured me I have especially to mention EVANS,
FRANKS, VOSS, TISCHLER, the late KARL DESCHMANN, MAJOR TRÖLTSCH,
PIGORINI, and CASTELFRANCO.
(2) To the custodians of museums and the owners of private collections
I am indebted for permission to have notes and sketches taken of
objects in their possession. The collections which have supplied me
with original illustrations are the following:--