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the other hand, when it became known, it gradually superseded bronze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.
(_c_) _Relics._--The relics were of a mixed character, and included
the following:--Stone celts and chisels, some of them being still
fixed in their horn handles and fastenings (=Fig. 1=, Nos. 3, 4, 11,
and 15); perforated hammer-axes (Nos. 8, 13, and 17); mealing-stones
and polishers (No. 12); various implements made of flint, as scrapers,
flakes (No. 1), saws (No. 2), and some rude arrow-points (only one
being neatly finished, No. 16); various objects of horn and bone (Nos.
6 and 7); also some wooden clubs, fragments of pottery, spindle-whorls
(No. 14), shells of hazel-nuts, etc. Among the relics then collected
were a bead of amber (No. 9) and a bronze armilla (No. 10).
After careful consideration of the facts thus brought to light, Dr.
Keller came to the conclusion that the piles had formerly supported
a wooden platform, that on this platform huts had been erected, and
that, after these had been inhabited for a long period, the whole
structure had been destroyed by fire.
A knowledge of these discoveries at Ober-Meilen, and of Dr. Keller's
opinion in regard to them, soon spread among the surrounding
inhabitants, the immediate result of which was a sudden crop of
lacustrine explorers, who carried on a vigorous search for similar
remains in this and the adjacent lakes. For their guidance were
requisitioned all sorts of traditions, stories of submerged cities,
of which many abounded, recollections of the occasional finding of
implements and weapons of unusual types, etc.; but of greatest service
was the local knowledge of fishermen, who, from practical experiences
of disasters to their nets and fishing gear, could at once point out
numberless localities where large fields of submerged piling were
to be found. In the spring of the same year the celebrated station
known as the Steinberg, at Nidau, in Lake Bienne, was discovered, as
well as numerous other stations in the lakes of Bienne, Neuchâtel,
and Geneva; so that before an illustrated account of the Ober-Meilen
discovery could appear in the Transactions of the Antiquarian Society
of Zürich Dr. Keller had important materials of a similar character
from other localities to record. This report, entitled "Die Keltischen
Pfahlbauten in den Schweizerseen," appeared towards the close of
the year 1854, and at once attracted the attention of archæologists
in all countries. Since then lacustrine investigations in search
of lake-dwellings have been incessantly carried on, not only in
Switzerland, but in many other countries in Europe, with the result
that each year has seen an increase in their number, as well as a
corresponding enhancement of the archæological value of the materials
so discovered.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.--OBER-MEILEN. All ½ real size.]
Prominent among the early investigators whose names have a claim to
be associated with this great discovery which has so popularised the
name of the Zürich antiquary were Colonel Schwab, of Bienne, whose
splendid collection of lake-dwelling antiquities now adorns his native
town; Professor Desor, author of the admirable little treatise "Les
Palafittes, ou Constructions lacustres du lac de Neuchâtel," and other
works; and Professor Troyon of Lausanne, whose work, "Habitations
lacustres des temps anciens et modernes," is so well known. But
foremost among them all stood Keller himself, who from time to time,
according to the demands of fresh discoveries, issued systematic
reports of the Pfahlbauten, of which no fewer than six had appeared
previous to the year 1866. In that year was published the English
edition of Keller's reports, arranged and translated by Mr. Lee.
It is needless to pursue here any further in historical order the
various means, whether as publications or investigations, by which
Keller's discovery was being pursued, as they come to be dealt with
elsewhere. Suffice it to say that within a few years of its publicity,
the existence of lacustrine villages all over Central Europe in
prehistoric times was fully established.
From these remarks you will have some idea of the work before us in
these lectures. It contemplates a critical and summary review of
the principal results of the investigations of the lake-dwellings
of Europe during the last half-century. This embraces a large
geographical area, extending, roughly, from Ireland to Bulgaria, and
from Venice on the Adriatic to the shores of the Baltic. Of the
very numerous researches to which I shall have to refer, some were
conducted by private individuals, others by public or scientific
bodies, but all presumably more or less qualified to give a correct
report of the facts. The records of successive discoveries have
been generally published in the proceedings of local societies, but
sometimes in separate monographs of extremely limited circulation. As
to the antiquities, some have found their way to dealers, and have
disappeared to foreign lands. A large proportion, however, have been
carefully preserved in the respective districts or countries in which
they were found, and are now located in public museums or private
collections, where, as a rule, they are intelligently arranged and
duly labelled. In conducting you, as it were, over this wide area,
amidst such diversified materials, I shall be guided, to a certain
extent, by geographical convenience, even at the expense of historical
sequence; and in discussing typical finds I shall, as far as this may
be practicable, make use of diagrammatic and pictorial illustrations,
believing that even a poor illustration often conveys more information
than the most accurate description.