cap. 16) -taie- thai such habitations were anciently employe, i by a tribe dwelling in LVenuia, now a part of Rohmelia. By dredging tic lake- which contained the Swiss lake-dwellings an enormous quantity of relics has
I been brought to light, embracing the different varieties of stone weapons and implements, industrial and orna- mental articles in bronze, remain- of plaited cloth, -lores id' wheat and barley — in one instance baked into flat, round cakes — carbonized apples and pears, and the stones of the wild plum, and se.d- of the raspberry and blackberry, together with the nut- of the beech and ha/el. In a few instances implements of iron have Iiiiii discovered; and in one instance bronze and silver coins and medals of Greek production, and Borne iron swords, lint all of pre-Roman origin. Tin- boms of twenty-four specif S of wild mammal- have been dredged up. beside- eighteen specie- of birds, three of reptiles, and nine of fish, ail of which have lived in historic times (Rutimeyer, Du Fauna <!■ r P/iiklbautt . Basi d.'i.v.i |.
In some instance-, as on the north bank of Lake Neu- chatel, where the bottom was rocky, heaps of si thrown down, among which piles were fixed. The piles thus served to retain further supplies of stones, and by this means artificial island- wi re formed, on w hich cab- ins were built. These are designated as u m rferes. The transition from these to the "crannoges" of Ireland is easy, for the latter arc simply artificial islands formed of piles, stones, and earth, or sometimes of a fram< work of oaken beams mortised together, and made to serve
as a crib for the retenti f masses oi stones (Wylie,
ArchcBologia,v6L xxxviii, 1859). The building on these islands are now som< times covered with peat, as in the Drumkellin bog, to the depth of fourti en feet. The Irish crannoges have afforded vast quantities of bones of domestic animals, and works of human indus- try in stone, bronze, and iron.
(9.) Modern Savages. — Since, beyond controversy, prehistoric man existed in a condition similar to that of rude and primitive peoples of historic times, it ap- pears that the study of modern savages should afford important aids in the interpretation of prehistoric mon- uments, and the determination of I he condition and ca- pacities of prehistoric peoples. For instance, the flint arrow-heads of the American Indian are fashioned pre- cisely like some of those found in European caverns and lake-habitations. To understand the ancienl lake- dwellings and their occupants, we have nol only the historical account of Herodotus, but D'Urville's narra- tive of the lake-dwellers of New Guinea. As illustra- tive of the kitchen-middens, we may turn to the modi m shell-heaps on the north-west coast of Australia, and the city-border offal-heaps of Guayaquil and Mexico. In India some of the hill-tribes still erect cromlechs. Prehistoric monuments even receive a light shed from the accounts of early historic times. Thus " Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar" (Gen. xxxi. 45; see further, ver. 16 52); and at Mount Sinai, Moses erected twelve pillars- -menhirs (Exod. xxiv, 4 ; see also Josh. iv. 21,22). Iiicoimectionwithtumuli.il may be remembered thai Semiramis raised a mound over her husband; si ones were piled up over the remains of Lalcus; Achilles raised to Patroclus a mound more than inn fiii in di- ameter; Alexander ere, led one over the asle - i l 1b- phsestio which cost $1,200,000; and in Roman history we nieei with several similar instances. So. finally, the small bronze chariot exhumed from a tumulus ,,| Meck- lenburg recall- the w heeled Structures fabricated I 'I' Sol- omon by Hiram of Tyre (1 Kin-- vii. 27 :;7 .
2. Interpretation of tin Facts. — (1.) Divisions of Pre- flu- voice of .all civilized nations has given expression to the belief in the exist* nee ol three in the unwritten history of mankind: the ages oi Stone, of Bronze, and of rron. The concurrent indications from the relics of prehistoric times Bustain this belief. In the Age Of Stone the metals were un- known, ami all implements, weapons, utensils, and or- naineuls were of stone, bone. born, shell-, or moulded and unbaked clay. In the Age of Bronze, arm- and cutting instruments were made largely of that alloy. though -tone continued long in use. In the Age of
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Iron that metal had superseded bronze for arms, axes, and knives, though bronze continued in use for orna- ments, and often for the handles of weapons. This suc- cession, which is confidently traced for European popu- lations, probably holds good, modified by various cir- cumstances, for mankind at large. It must not by any means be supposed, however, that the social condition implied by the Stone Age, or either of the others, an- swers to any particular period of absolute time in the history of the world. One race or nation has emerged from the condition of its Stone Age at a much earlier pe- riod than another, and some races and tribes still re- main in their Stone Age. These three conditions of society are generally regarded as prehistoric, and it is certain that bronze and iron were already known to the northern nations of Europe when the Roman armies in- vaded them ; but it appears also that the weapons used in the Trojan War, at the dawn of history, were mostly of bronze, though iron was beginning to appear, and that in the time of Joshua knives of stone were in use.