The great value, however, of the investigations of the lake-dwellings,
especially in the south-west of Scotland, depends on the quantity and
variety of the remains of human industry discovered in and around
their sites. It is from such fragmentary remains as food refuse,
stray ornaments, broken weapons, useless and worn-out implements, and
such-like waifs and strays of human occupancy, that archæologists
attempt to reconstruct the outlines of the social life and
organisation of the prehistoric past. To those who may wish to occupy
themselves with this problem these explorations have furnished, as
we have just seen, a vast collection of objects made of stone, bone,
horn, wood, bronze, iron, and gold.
Among the stone objects are--querns, hammer-stones, whetstones,
so-called sling-stones, a few cup-marked stones (one surrounded by
concentric circles), spindle-whorls, flint flakes, and scrapers, a
polished celt, a perforated axe-hammer head, portions of two polished
circular discs, and some oval implements with a wrought hollowed
surface on each side.
Bones and horns of deer were utilised in various ways and manufactured
into pins, needles, bodkins, awls, picks, toilet-combs, knife-handles,
etc. The combs are neatly formed of three or four flat pieces kept
in position by two transverse slips, one on each side, and riveted
together by iron rivets. They are frequently ornamented by a series of
incised circles, which are sometimes connected by a running scroll, as
in =Fig. 174=.
The wooden articles consist of bowls, ladles, mallets, hoes, clubs,
etc., together with a variety of other objects apparently intended for
agricultural purposes.
Implements and weapons of iron are numerous. Amongst the former are
gouges, chisels, knives, shears, saws, hatchets, awls, hammers, a
bridle-bit, the bolt of a padlock, and other objects of unknown use.
The weapons consist of leaf-shaped spear-heads, both socketed and
tanged, daggers, and arrow-heads resembling those of the crossbow bolt.
The objects made of bronze are mostly of an ornamental character,
comprising:--harp-shaped fibulæ, circular and penannular brooches,
finger-rings, a spiral ornament, ornamented pins, one with a ring top
and another with a glass setting, a small key, and some other articles
of an indeterminate character. From Dowalton there are basins or
cauldrons of beaten bronze, some clouted and riveted; one, presumably
a Roman saucepan, has the name of the maker on the handle.
On the Buston crannog were found two handsome and massive spiral
finger-rings made of gold. One is plain with five and a half twists;
the other, besides an additional twist, has both ends ornamented by
a series of circular grooves. From the same place there is a curious
gold coin, of Saxon origin, and a forgery of the sixth or seventh
century.
Pottery is represented by numerous fragments, some of which are
of so-called Samian ware, but the most of them are of vessels of
a glazed ware, while a few are of an archaic type. Several neatly
formed crucibles, containing traces of gold and slag, are also in the
collection.
Among miscellaneous objects are bracelets and beads made of coloured
and of variegated glass or vitreous paste; also some jet ornaments,
one of which is a handsome pendant in the form of an equal-armed
cross, inscribed in a circle and having one surface ornamented by a
series of incised circles which contained the remains of a yellow
enamel. Dr. Joseph Anderson considers this a Christian relic of a
very early type. A smooth and flat piece of ashwood, with peculiar
spiral carvings on both sides, and a fringe-like apparatus made of the
long stems of a moss, are among the objects which have excited the
greatest curiosity. Regarding a finely polished conical object made of
rock-crystal found at Lochspouts, a reviewer in the _Academy_, October
14th, writes:--"Is it a charm or can it have formed the centre knob or
boss in the binding of some richly decorated breviary or gospel book?
Crystals very similar, but oblong in form--like a Brazil nut--may be
seen in some of the rich covers of books of early date, and a few that
have been detached are preserved in collections. One such object forms
part of a crystal necklace in the Ashmolean Museum, and another in
private hands was employed, not so very many years ago, in the West
Riding of Yorkshire, for the purpose of seeing spirits. If this relic
be, indeed, a book-boss, it makes it probable that the crannog was at
one time inhabited, or at least visited, by Christian missionaries."
Dr. Joseph Anderson has also pointed out that this object is extremely
like a "large circular rock crystal which forms the central ornament
on the inferior surface of the foot of the famous silver chalice, dug
up at the Rath of Reerasta, near Ardagh, county Limerick, Ireland,
in 1868, and now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
According to the Earl of Dunraven, this most beautiful example of our
ancient art was executed either in the ninth or tenth century." (See
_Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, December 4th, 1882.)
From the respective reports of Professors Owen, Rolleston,
and Cleland, on a selection of osseous remains taken from the
lake-dwellings at Dowalton, Lochlee, and Buston, we can form a fair
idea of the food of the occupiers. The Celtic shorthorn ox, the
so-called goat-horned sheep, and a domestic breed of pigs were largely
consumed. The horse was only scantily used. The number of bones and
horns of the red-deer and roebuck showed that venison was by no means
a rare addition to the list of their dietary. Among birds, only the
goose has been identified, but this is no criterion of the extent of
their encroachment on the feathered tribe, as only the larger bones
were collected and reported on. To this bill of fare the occupiers of
Lochspouts crannog, being comparatively near the sea, added several
kinds of shell-fish. In all the lake-dwellings that have come under
my own observation the broken shells of hazel-nuts were in profuse
abundance.
From the number of querns, and the great preponderance of the bones
of domestic over those of wild animals, it may be inferred that, for
subsistence, they depended more on the cultivation of the soil and the
rearing of cattle, sheep, and pigs, than on the ordinary produce of
the chase.
Proofs of a prolonged but occasionally interrupted occupancy are also
manifested by the great accumulation of _débris_ over the wooden
pavements, the size and contents of the kitchen-middens, and the
superimposed hearths.
Let us now look at the remarkable series of implements, weapons,
ornaments, and nondescript objects here presented to us, with the
view of abstracting from them some scraps of information regarding
their original owners. The fragments of Samian ware, bronze dishes,
harp-shaped fibulæ, and the large assortment of beads, bronze and
bone pins, bone combs, jet ornaments, etc., are so similar to the
class of remains found on the excavated sites of Romano-British towns,
that there can hardly be any doubt that Roman civilisation had come
in contact with the lake-dwellers. The Celtic element is, however,
strongly developed, not only in the general character of many of the
industrial implements of stone, bone, and iron, but also in the style
of art manifested in some of the ornamental objects included in the
collection. Thus the piece of ashwood with its carved spiral patterns
(=Figs. 144= and =145=), the combs, especially the one showing a
series of concentric circles connected by a running scroll design
(=Fig. 174=), and some of the bronze brooches and ornaments (=Fig.
130=) present a style of ornamentation which is considered peculiar to
Celtic art. The spiral finger-rings seem also to have been of native
origin, and the probability is that they were manufactured where they
were found, as several crucibles are amongst the relics from the same
lake-dwelling, one of which, from the fact that it still contains
particles of gold, proves that it had been used in melting this metal.
(B. 373, p. 236.)
On the other hand, the forged gold coin is the only relic that can
with certainty be said to have emanated from a Saxon source--at least,
that cannot otherwise be accounted for.
But if from internal evidence a presumptive case is made out in favour
of the Celtic origin and occupation of these lake-dwellings, it is
greatly strengthened when we consider that the neighbouring Celtic
races, especially in Ireland, were in the habit of erecting similar
island abodes, while there is not a particle of evidence in favour of
the idea that such structures originated with the Roman conquerors of
Britain or its Saxon invaders.
[Illustration: Comb from the Roman City of Uriconium (⅔).
Comb from the Knowe of Saverough, Orkney (½).
Two Combs from the Broch of Burrian, Orkney (½).
=Fig. 176.=--Bone Combs, for comparison with those from the
Lake-Dwellings.]
The resemblance between the remains found in the Scottish and
Irish lake-dwellings, as well as other antiquarian finds of Celtic
character, must also not be overlooked. Combs, similar in structure
and ornamentation to those from Buston, have been found in several
of the Irish crannogs, in the brochs and other antiquities of the
north of Scotland, and in many of the ruins of the Romano-British
towns in England. (See =Figs. 105=, =108=, and =176=.) Iron knives
and shears, variegated beads of impure glass with grooves and spiral
marks, ornaments of jet and bronze, implements of stone, bone, and
horn, besides querns, whetstones, etc., are all common to Celtic
antiquities, wherever found.
That many of these relics were the products of a refined civilisation
is not more remarkable than the unexpected and strangely discordant
circumstances in which they have been found. For this reason it might
be supposed that the crannogs were the headquarters of thieves and
robbers, where the proceeds of their marauding excursions among the
surrounding Roman provincials were stored up. The inferences derived
from a careful consideration of all the facts do not appear to me
to support this view, nor do they uphold another view, sometimes
propounded, viz. that they were fortified islands occupied by the
guardian soldiers of the people. Indeed, amongst the relics military
remains are only feebly represented by a few iron daggers and
spear-heads, one or two doubtful arrow-points, and a quantity of round
pebbles and so-called sling-stones. On the other hand, a very large
percentage of the articles consists of querns, implements and tools,
crucibles, various domestic utensils, etc., from which, not to mention
the great variety of ornaments, there can be no ambiguity as to the
testimony they afford of the peaceful prosecution of various arts and
industries by the lake-dwellers.
There is, in my opinion, only one hypothesis that can satisfactorily
account for all the facts and phenomena here adduced, viz. that the
lake-dwellings in the south-west of Scotland were resorted to by the
Celtic inhabitants as a means of protecting their lives and movable
property when, upon the frequent withdrawal of the Roman soldiers from
the district, they were left, single-handed, to contend against the
Angles on the east and the Picts and Scots on the north. It is not
likely that these provincials, so long accustomed to the luxury and
comforts of Roman civilisation, or their descendants in the subsequent
kingdom of Strathclyde, would become the assailants of such fierce
and lawless enemies, from whom, even if conquered, they could derive
no benefit. Hence their military tactics and operations would assume
more the character of defence than aggression, and in order to defeat
the object of the frequent and sudden inroads of the northern tribes,
which was to plunder the inhabitants rather than to conquer the
country, experience taught them the necessity of being prepared for
emergencies by having certain places of more than ordinary security
where they could deposit their wealth, or to which they could retire
as a last resource when hard pressed. These retreats might be caves,
fortified camps, or inaccessible islands, but in localities where no
such natural strongholds existed the military genius of the Celtic
inhabitants, prompted perhaps by inherited notions, led them to
construct these wooden islands. From the final departure of the Romans
to the conquest of the kingdom of Strathclyde by the Northumbrian
Angles, a period of several centuries, this unfortunate people had
few intervals of peace, and with their complete subjugation ended
the special functions of the lake-dwellings as a national system
of protection. No doubt some of them, as well as caves and such
hiding-places, would continue to afford refuge to straggling remnants
of natives, rendered desperate by the relentless persecution of their
enemies; but ultimately all of them would fall into the hands of their
Saxon conquerors, when henceforth they would be allowed to subside
into mud or crumble into decay.