Only one lake-dwelling has hitherto been recorded in Wales, viz. that
of Llangorse. The partial exploration to which it has been subjected
was undertaken by the Rev. Mr. Dumbleton, and the results are recorded
by him in the _Archæologia Cambrensis_ for 1870 and 1872. (B. 173.)
The following extracts from these reports clearly show that the
island was entirely artificial and constructed after the manner of
the Scottish and Irish crannogs. Its structural features were well
seen in the surrounding stockades and log-floorings, while the heaps
of charcoal, remains of food-refuse, and other indications point to
a prolonged period of human occupancy. Mr. Dumbleton states that
until about seven years ago, when the lake was artificially lowered a
foot and a half, this island was not half its present size. He then
advances various evidences to show that formerly the level of the
water was still lower, when, therefore, the island would have been
larger than now. This opinion may be, and probably is, correct; but we
must remember that another factor has to be taken into account when
discussing the invariable submergence of these islands, viz. their own
pressure on a yielding lake sediment, together with the decay of the
brushwood and other organic materials which generally formed their
under strata. It is to be regretted that no relics were found on this
island, and I cannot help thinking that, in the circumstances, a more
careful search would have furnished some scraps of the handiwork of
its occupiers. From the description it is clear that metal tools were
used in manipulating the woodwork, but otherwise, and in the absence
of any historical notice, we have no means of determining either the
age of this singular lacustrine abode or the social condition of its
inhabitants.
"Immediately beneath the southern spurs of the Black Mountains, and
in the hollow of the great geological fracture which parts that chain
from the Brecknockshire Beacons, is situated a sheet of water now
called the Lake of Llangorse. Its name was formerly Llyn Savathan,
or the lake of the sunken land. The area of water was once far more
extensive than it is now; and it has subsequently been, as I think,
considerably less than at present. A circuit of five miles will now
enclose it. The margin is flat and swampy, except on the north-east,
where the mountain descends upon the shore-line somewhat abruptly. The
depth, though by vulgar report vast and fearful, Leland has rather
overstated in assigning to it thirteen fathoms."
"Within a bow-shot of the flat meadows on the north side there is an
island that would appear but little above the water, were it not for
some small trees and brushwood that have fastened upon it.
"Sailing by the island one day in 1867, I observed that the stones
which stand out on the south and east sides were strangely new
looking, and most unlike the water-worn, rounded fragments that on
the main shore have been exposed to the action of the waves; neither
did there seem to be any original rock-basis at all. It was, in fact,
nothing less than a huge heap of stones thrown into water two or three
feet in depth. Was this the key, I thought, to the old tradition of a
city in the lake? In the summer of last year, my brother, then living
in the neighbourhood, first discovered a row of piles or slabs; some
standing a few inches above water, for the lake was very low. We have
together made some investigations during the past month, the results
of which I will detail.
"The island, as now above water, measures 90 yards in circumference,
its form being that of a square with the corners rounded off. The
highest part is nearly in the centre, and is 5 feet above the
water-level. The sides most exposed to weather, where also the water
is deepest, are composed of stones sloping into the water, and
extending to the distance of fifteen yards from the edge. Under the
water, however, they are not nearly so thickly strewn as above. It is
remarkable that on the leeward or northern side, about one quarter
of the island is almost destitute of stone protection with which the
greater part is covered. There is simply a surface of vegetable mould,
inclined towards the water. Neither in the water, which is there very
shallow, are there more than a score of stones to be found on that
side. I must now speak of the piles. These are of two sorts, the most
obvious being either at the margin or within a few feet of it. Like
the stones, they are most numerous where the action of the storm would
be most felt, and upon the shallow side they disappear entirely. They
have been disposed in segments of circles, the stones being heaped
inside them, and thus saved from being torn away by the waves. These
piles (or rather slabs) are of cleft oak, and have been pointed, as it
seems, by cuts from a metal adze. We have counted about sixty. They
have been driven tightly into the shell-marl, to the depth of four
feet. There are also other piles, which are round, generally of soft
wood, and are found outside the present edge of the island. Several
are in water two feet deep, and are driven into the marl only twelve
or eighteen inches. These would have been quite powerless to confine
the stones, and were evidently for another purpose.... Is it not
likely that the island itself was central common ground? and that the
habitations were projected from its edge towards the water and were
supported by these thick round piles? Something like a ring of these
is found near the oak slabs before mentioned; and traces of a second
set are at the distance of twelve or fifteen yards, in water about
two feet deep. Between the two, small wood is found abundantly, a few
inches in the marl. At about ten yards from the shore, and in two feet
of water, there appear to be the actual remains of a sunken platform.
Three trunks of soft wood lie nearly parallel to one another. A 6
feet stem of oak, which I cannot account for, was with them. The top
of this we sawed off, as it exhibits the marks of some heavy cutting
instrument where, in modern days, a saw would have been used.
"I have to add to this subject the discovery of two much more perfect
platforms in a perplexing situation, namely, within the oak slabs.
They were composed of eight straight trunks, about six inches in
diameter, lying side by side. Their direction is from the centre to
the water; their ends, towards the shore, are thrust against the slab
piles; others are closed in one case by a transverse oak beam....
"The examination of the interior would, of course, unfold the process
of the construction. We therefore made several perpendicular openings;
and these invariably led us down to the shell-marl, showing first a
stratum of large, loose stones, with vegetable mould and sand; next
(about eighteen inches above the marl), peat, black and compact; and
beneath this, the remains of reeds and small wood. This faggot-like
wood presented itself abundantly all round the edges of the island,
and in the same relative position, namely, immediately upon the soft
marl; the object of it being, of course, to save the stones from
sinking.
"On digging through the before-mentioned low portion of the crannog a
different order of materials exhibited itself. As I said, the stones
are very few; the depth is 3 feet instead of 5; 18 inches of vegetable
mould; 6 inches of earth mixed thickly with charcoal; and 1 foot of
peat, small wood or reeds. I may here say that this charcoal is found
under water, in very frequent small fragments, on this north-eastern
side; and is covered, not with marl or stones, but with sand. Bones
are found in numbers amongst the stones where the water is quite
shallow; every spadeful of marl, in some parts, would, as the water
dripped off, show one or more small bone fragments or teeth."
The osseous remains were more or less identified by Professors Owen,
Rolleston and Boyd Dawkins as belonging to _Bos longifrons_, horse
(small and large variety), red deer, and wild boar.