nd
relics were found in such abundance that the history of this unknown
past could be traced through long ages, and the habits of the people
ascertained with a very considerable amount of probability. The
details are so numerous that it would be impossible in the space at
our disposal to go into them all.

Of course, during the long time that has elapsed since these
structures were erected, their remains have been reduced to mere
ruins, and it is only by comparing one with another that we are able
to picture to ourselves what they were originally like and what sort
of life was led by the men who inhabited them. The oldest of these
dwellings belong to the stone age, when man had not acquired any
knowledge of the use of metal; when all his instruments were merely
sharpened stones, fixed in wooden handles, or pieces of bone, horn, or
other natural material. They are therefore somewhat roughly finished,
but at the same time exhibit considerable ingenuity and skill. The
method of construction seems to have been somewhat as follows: A
suitable situation, not far from the shore, where the water was not
very deep, having been fixed upon, these prehistoric builders drove
into the muddy bottom of the lake a number of piles or long stakes,
arranged generally pretty close together, and in some sort of regular
order. These piles were formed generally from stems of trees, with the
bark on, but occasionally from split wood. The ends were sharpened to
a point by the aid of fire or by cutting with stone axes. On a
sufficient number being driven in, and their upper ends brought to a
level above the surface of the water, platform beams were laid across,
fastened by wooden pegs, or in some cases fixed into notches cut in
the heads of the vertical piles. The platform was generally very
roughly made, just a series of unbarked stems placed side by side and
covered with layers of earth or clay, with numerous openings through
which refuse of all kinds fell into the water beneath. In many cases
connection with the shore was made by means of a narrow bridge or
gangway, constructed in the same manner. On this rude platform huts
were erected by driving small piles or stakes which projected above
the floor, and to these were fastened boards standing edgeways like
the skirting of our ordinary rooms, and marking out the size of each
building. The walls of the huts were formed of small branches of twigs
interwoven and plastered over with clay. The roo