To the west of the little Lake of Wauwyl there is an extensive peaty
plain, in which, upon the lowering of the lake for further utilisation
of the peat, the remains of some curiously-constructed lake-dwellings
were discovered. Wooden platforms were met with, resting, not on
piles, but upon a series of successive beds of roughly-cut stems
lying transversely to each other, the lowest of which reposed on
the lake-bottom. Between these layers were branches and brushwood,
mixed with clay, and the whole mass was pierced with vertical piles,
the tops of which were at least a foot above the upper platform.
These layers were as many as five, and the total thickness of the
mass when exposed was about 3 feet, but there can be no doubt that,
originally, it would have been greater, as there had been considerable
condensation of the mass due to decay, especially of the interposing
branches. The uprights were not observed to have been in any way
connected with the platform, and the only peculiarity in the method
of their arrangement was that they were more thickly placed at the
corners, as if to keep the wooden mass in position. These artificial
structures measured only 10 or 12 feet square, but they were very
numerous, and so close that beams from one sometimes reached to the
one next it. They were found in various parts of the moor, but in
one place they were crowded into a rectangle measuring 90 feet by
50, which was surrounded by several rows of upright piles, as if for
common protection. The upright piles were made of oak, alder, or fir,
and they penetrated deeply into the shell marl--the stoutest being of
oak, measuring 5 inches or more in diameter. It is noteworthy that the
lowest horizontal woodwork lay on the shell marl, showing that these
dwellings were constructed before the peat commenced to grow. The peat
is now at least 6 feet thick., _i.e._ 3 feet of peat lying above the
uppermost platforms.
No antiquarian remains were found underneath the wooden structures,
but mostly in the intervals between them, where the objects lay almost
directly over the shell marl. The settlement appears to have come to
an end before the Bronze Age, as no metal object has been met with.
A small glass bead is therefore of interest, as showing that the
colonists must have had commercial relations with distant countries.
Among the other antiquities are the following:--Stone celts (some of
nephrite) hafted in staghorn fixings, and flint implements; chisels,
pointers, flax-hecklers, etc., of bone; a lump of asphalt, harpoons of
staghorn, knives made of yew, and various fragments of pottery with
perforated knobs. In the Museum of Lucerne there are a few things,
among which are one or two objects showing that the art of boring
stone was known (=Fig. 16=, Nos. 1 and 2).
[Illustration: =Fig. 16.=--LAKES OF WAUWYL (1 and 2), ZUG (8), and
BALDEGG. No. 5 = ¼, all the rest = ½ real size.]