Primitive Man Part 25

FOOTNOTES:

[31] 'Pfahlbauten,' Zurich, 1854-1856.

[32] Various distinguished _savants_ have taken upon themselves the task of making known to the public the results of these unceasing investigations, and of bringing before the eyes of the present generation the ancient civilisation of the Swiss valleys. Among the works which have best attained this end, we must mention Troyon's 'Habitations Lacustres des Temps anciens et modernes,' Morlot's 'Etudes Geologico-archeologiques en Danemark et en Suisse,' and M. Desor's 'Palafittes, ou Constructions Lacustres du Lac de Neuchatel.' These works, which have been translated into various languages, contain a statement of all the archaeological discoveries which have been made in Switzerland.

[33] 'Les Palafittes, ou Constructions Lacustres du Lac de Neuchatel.'

Paris, 1865.

CHAPTER III.

Lacustrine Habitations of Upper Italy, Bavaria, Carinthia and Carniola, Pomerania, France, and England--The _Crannoges_ of Ireland.

It was difficult to believe that Switzerland alone possessed the monopoly of these pile-work-constructions. It was certainly to be supposed that the southern slopes of the Alps, which were all dotted over with large and beautiful lakes, must likewise contain constructions of a similar character; this, at least, was M. Desor's opinion. After the numerous pre-historic discoveries which had been made in Switzerland, the Zurich professor proceeded in 1860 to explore the lakes of Lombardy, being well convinced that there too he should find remains of lacustrine habitations.

The hopes he had formed were not deceived. Ere long, in fact, M. Desor obtained from the peat-bogs round Lake Maggiore piles and other objects similar to those found in the Swiss lakes. These researches were continued by MM. Gastaldi and Moro, who discovered in the peat-bogs round this lake several ancient villages built upon piles.

In the Lake of Varese, also in Lombardy, which was examined in 1863 by MM. Desor, G. de Mortillet, and the Abbe Stoppani, were discovered five settlements, some of which were of the Stone Age. Subsequently, the Abbe Ranchet pointed out four others, which raise to the number of nine the pile works found in this lake. In order to render due honour to MM.

Keller and Desor, who have contributed so much to the investigation and popularity of lacustrine antiquities, the Abbe Stoppani gave the name of these _savants_ to two of the settlements.

One of these isles is very curious, as it is inhabited up to the present day. It is called _Isoletta_ ("small island"), and the Litta family possess a _chateau_ upon it.

In the peat-mosses of Brianza, a portion of Lombardy situated to the north of Milan, the remains of lacustrine constructions have been discovered, together with bones, fragments of pottery, pieces of charcoal, and carbonised stone; also weapons, both of bronze and flint.

The Lake of Garda has been searched over by various explorers, who have discovered in it the sites of several lacustrine habitations. The authors of these discoveries are Dr. Alberti, of Verona, and MM.

Kosterlitz and Silber, two Austrian officers, who presented all the objects which they collected to the antiquarian museums of Vienna and Zurich. The traces of pile-works were first perceived when the works were in progress which were excavated by the Austrians in 1855 round the fortress of Peschiera; which proves, at least, that fortresses may occasionally serve some useful purpose.

A settlement of the Stone Age, which was examined by M. Paolo Lioy, is situated in a small lake in Venetia, the length of which does not exceed half a mile, and the depth 30 feet; we allude to the Lake of Fimon, near Vicenza. M. Lioy discovered oaken piles partially charred, which proves that the village had at one time been burnt down; also slabs of timber roughly squared, a canoe hollowed out of a trunk of oak, cakes of clay which had come from the sides of huts, and still bore the imprint of the reed-stalks, and no doubt formed a kind of coating inside the huts; various instruments made of bone, flint, sandstone, granite, and stag's horn; rings or spindle-weights made of burnt earth, numerous fragments of rough pottery, merely dried in the sun, and, among all these remains, a dozen entire vessels.

There were also found stores of acorns, nuts, and water-chestnuts, the fruit of the sorb-tree, some sloe-stones, &c. A large quant.i.ty of animal bones certified to the existence of the bison, the stag, the wild boar, the fox, and several other doubtful species. All the long bones were broken, as is usually the case, for the extraction of the marrow, but not with the ordinary regularity; they had merely been cracked by blows with stones.

The investigation of lacustrine antiquities which had been inaugurated in Switzerland could hardly stop short in its path of progress. Attempts were made to discover _palafittes_ in other countries, and these attempts met with success.

Thanks to the initiative action taken by M. Desor, and the liberality of the Bavarian Government, pile-works of ancient date have been discovered in six of the Bavarian lakes. Most of them go back to the Stone Age, but some belong to the bronze epoch. Among the latter we may mention the _Isle of Roses_, in the Lake of Starnberg, which is, in fact, an artificial island, like the Isoletta in the Lake of Varese. We have previously stated that this island has never ceased to be inhabited, and that a _chateau_ now exists on it.

The movement spread from one place to another. Austria made it a point of honour not to remain in the rear of Bavaria, and Professor Hochstetter was commissioned by the Academy of Sciences at Vienna to undertake a search for _palafittes_ in the lakes of Carinthia and Carniola.

These explorations were not without result. In four lakes of Carinthia, Dr. Hochstetter discovered piles, remains of pottery, bones, nuts, &c.

In the Lake of Reutschach, which was the most closely investigated, he discovered shallows formed by stones, similar to the _steinbergs_ of Switzerland. The marshes of Laybach have also furnished instruments of stag's horn, a perforated stone, and a canoe.

Next to Austria, Prussia took the matter up. Specimens of pile-work were discovered in several provinces of this kingdom; among these were Brandenburg and Pomerania, a district rich in marshes. In the environs of Lubtow the lacustrine constructions have the same characteristics as those of Robenhausen, on the Lake of Pfaeffikon (Switzerland). Two distinct archaeological strata may be distinguished; in the lower are found, all mingled together, bronze and stone instruments, fragments of pottery, wheat, barley, and charred peas; the upper stratum belongs to the iron age.

We have not as yet said anything about France; lacustrine dwellings have, however, been discovered in some of the departments which border on Switzerland.

The Lakes of Bourget and Annecy, in Savoy, contain several of them. The former of these lakes was thoroughly explored by M. Laurent Rabut, author of an article on the 'Habitations Lacustres de la Savoie,' which obtained a silver medal at the compet.i.tion of the learned societies in 1863. In the Lake of Bourget, M. Rabut ascertained the existence of five or six settlements of the bronze epoch, three of which, those of Tresserve, Gresine and Chatillon, have been distinguished as furnishing numerous ancient relics.

The Lake of Paladru (Isere) which has been searched by M. Gustave Vallier, has afforded similar results. Pile-works are thought to exist in some other small lakes in the same district--those of Sainte-Helene, on the left bank of the Isere, Saint-Martin-de-Belville, and Saint-Marcel, near Moutiers. Pile-works have also been discovered on the site of an ancient lake on the banks of the Saone; and in a totally different district, at the foot of the Pyrenees, as many as five have been pointed out.

Everything therefore leads us to believe that if we searched with care the peat-mosses and pools which are very common in a good many of the French departments, we should discover the vestiges of various pre-historic epochs.

In order to complete the enumeration of the lacustrine constructions of Europe, we may state that they have been found in Denmark in the Lake of Maribo, and in England in the county of Norfolk.

With these constructions we must also connect the _crannoges_ or artificial islands of Ireland, the first of which was discovered in 1836 by Sir W. R. Wilde, a member of the Royal Academy of Dublin. Since this date various investigations have been made of these objects, and, at the present time, no less than fifty _crannoges_ have been discovered, distributed among the various counties of Ireland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 150.--Vertical Section of a _Crannoge_ in the Ardakillin Lake.]

Most of these islets were composed of heaps of stones held together by piles, nearly in the same way as in the _tenevieres_ in Switzerland; but the _crannoges_ differ from the latter in being raised above the water.

Some of them, however, are formed by a collection of vertical piles and horizontal joists, const.i.tuting an external inclosure, and even internal compartments, inside which all kinds of remains were collected. This kind are called _stockaded_ islands. They are generally of an oval or circular shape, and their dimensions are always kept within rather narrow limits. In his work on 'Pre-historic Times,' Sir John Lubbock gives the above sketch of a _crannoge_ in the Ardakillin Lake.

Captain Mudge, of the Royal British Navy, has described a hut which he found at a depth of 16 feet, in the Drumkellin marsh. Its area was about 5 feet square, and its height 10 feet; it included two stories, each about 4-1/2 feet high. The roof was flat, and the hut was surrounded by a fence of piles, doubtless intended to separate it from other adjacent huts, the remains of which are still to be perceived. The whole construction had been executed by means of stone instruments, a fact that was proved by the nature of the cuts that were still visible on some of the pieces of wood. Added to this, a hatchet, a chisel, and an arrow-head, all made of flint, were found on the floor of the cabin, and left no doubt whatever on this point. This, therefore, was in fact a habitation belonging to the Stone Age. Some nuts and a large quant.i.ty of broken sh.e.l.ls were scattered over the ground. A large flat stone, perforated with a little hole in the middle, was found on the spot; it was probably used to break the nuts by means of round pebbles picked up outside.

From some of these settlements considerable ma.s.ses of bones have been obtained, which have, alas, been utilised as manure. Sir John Lubbock tells us that the _crannoge_ of Dunshauglin alone has furnished more than 150 cartloads of bones. These bones belong to the following species:--the ox, the pig, the goat, the sheep, the horse, the a.s.s, the dog, the fox, the roe, the fallow-deer, and the great Irish stag, now extinct. If all other proof were wanting, the presence of the remains of this latter animal would be sufficient to indicate that certain _crannoges_ date back to the Stone Age; but as in this case we evidently have to do with the polished-stone epoch, it is also proved that the gigantic antlered stag existed in Ireland at a much later date than on the continent.

Various historical records testify to the fact, that the _crannoges_ were inhabited up to the end of the sixteenth century. They then const.i.tuted a kind of fortress, in which petty chiefs braved for a long time the royal power. After the definitive pacification of the country they were completely abandoned.

CHAPTER IV.

Pal.u.s.trine Habitations or Marsh-Villages--Surveys made by MM. Strobel and Pigorini of the _Terramares_ of Tuscany--The _Terramares_ of Brazil.

Having described the _lacustrine_ habitations which have been discovered in various parts of Europe, we must now mention the so-called _pal.u.s.trine_ habitations, as peculiar to the bronze epoch. This name has been given to that kind of village, the remains of which have been discovered round marshes and pools. Upper Italy is the locality in which these settlements have been pointed out.

The name of _pal.u.s.trine settlements_, or _marnieras_, has been given to the sites of ancient villages established by means of piles on marshes or pools of no great size, which in the course of time have been filled up by mould of a peaty character, containing a quant.i.ty of organic and other _detritus_.

The discovery of those _pal.u.s.trine settlements_ is due to MM. Strobel and Pigorini, who have designated them by the name of _terramares_.

This term is applied by these _savants_ to the acc.u.mulation of ashes, charcoal, animal bones, and remains of all kinds which have been thrown away by man all round his dwellings, and have acc.u.mulated there during the lapse of centuries. The name which has been given them was derived from the fact that they furnish a kind of earthy ammoniacal manure, known in the district by the name of _terra mare_.

These acc.u.mulations are the representatives of the Danish kitchen-middens; but with this difference, that instead of dating back to the Stone Age, the former belong to the bronze epoch.

_Terramares_ are numerous in the districts of Parma and Modena; they are, however, almost entirely confined to the plain which extends between the Po, the Apennines, the Adda, and the Reno, forming an area of about 60 miles long, and 30 miles wide. In a general way, they form small mounds which rise from 6 to 12 feet above the level of the plain; as they go down some depth in the ground, their total thickness is in some places as much as 20 feet. Very few are seen having an area exceeding 9 acres.

Excavations which have been made in several spots enable a tolerably exact account to be given of the mode of construction adopted in these pal.u.s.trine settlements. The _marniera_ of Castione, in particular, has furnished us with valuable information on this point; and we shall describe this settlement as a type of the rest. Piles from 6 to 10 feet in length, and 4 to 6 inches in diameter (fig. 151), formed of trunks of trees, either whole or split, and pointed at the ends by some rough tool, were sunk to the depth of some inches in the bed of the hollow.

Some of them still show on their tops the marks of the blows that they received when they were driven in. They were placed at intervals of from 18 inches to 6 feet; and connecting-beams from 6 to 10 feet in length, placed horizontally, and crossing one another, bound the piles together, and insured the solidity of the whole construction. On these cross-beams rested a floor (fig. 152) formed of joists 1 to 3 inches thick, 6 to 12 inches wide, and 5 to 7 feet long.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 151.--Vertical Section of the _Marniera_ of Castione.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 152.--Floor of the _Marniera_ of Castione.]

Fig. 153 gives the plan of the tie-beams and piles of the _marniera_ of Castione, taken from the author's work.[34] These slabs or joists were not fixed in any way; at least, no trace now exists of any fastening.

They seemed to have been provided by splitting trunks of trees by means of wooden wedges, a number of these wedges having been found in the peaty earth. Neither the saw nor the gimlet appear to have been employed; but the square holes have been cut out by means of the chisel.

The timber that was used was princ.i.p.ally ash and oak.