Part 41

"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.

LAKE-DWELLINGS IN BERKS, ETC.

In 1878, Professor T. Rupert Jones, F.R.S., communicated to _Nature_ a short notice of "English Lake-Dwellings and Pile-Structures," in which, after drawing attention to the previously published articles of General Lane Fox and Sir Charles Bunbury, he writes as follows:--

"Since writing the above I have been informed that Mr. W. M. Wylie, F.S.A., referred to this fact in _Archæologia_, vol. xxxviii., in a note to his excellent memoir on lake-dwellings. I can add, however, that remains of _Cervus elaphus_ (red deer), _C. dama_? (fallow deer), _Ovis_ (sheep), _Bos longifrons_ (small ox), _Sus scrofa_ (hog), and _Canis_ (dog), were found here, according to information given me by the late C. B. Rose, F.G.S., of Swaffham, who also stated in a letter dated August 11th, 1856, that in adjoining meres, or sites of ancient meres, as at Saham, Towey, Carbrook, Old Buckenham, and Hargham, cervine remains have been met with; thus at Saham and Towey, _Cervus elaphus_ (red deer); at Buckenham, _Bos_ (ox) and _Cervus capreolus_ (roebuck); at Hargham, _Cervus tarandus_ (reindeer).

"The occurrence of flint implements and flakes in great numbers on the site of a drained lake between Sandhurst and Frimley, described by Captain C. Cooper King in the _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, January, 1873, p. 365, etc., points also in all probability to some kind of lake-dwelling, though timbers were not discovered.

"Lastly, the late Dr. S. Palmer, F.S.A., of Newbury, reported to the Wiltshire Archæological Society in 1869 that oaken piles and planks had been dug out of boggy ground on Cold Ash Common, near Faircross Pond, not far from Hermitage, Berks." (B. 312, p. 424.)

The following is Dr. Palmer's notice of the pile-structures at Cold Ash Common above referred to:--

"Recurring to the antiquities of the peat proper, I would refer to the subject of lake-dwellings. I do not despair of finding them in our neighbourhood, for I believe traces of them have been found near Cold Ash, some such structure having been uncovered in digging bog-earth for horticultural purposes. It was circular, measuring 30 feet across, and the planks were 16 to 18 feet in length, roughly hewn, and with beams crossing from side to side, and resting on the piles. There was also a kind of causeway to it. It was on the borders of a morass, the resort of wild fowl within the memory of man. The general appearance of the valley at this place leads me to surmise that it was not long since covered with water; there is still a pond in the centre. The bog-earth had been carted away before I heard of the discovery, so that I had no chance of examining it for animal or other remains."

The editor of the _Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club_ adds the following note to the above extract:--

"Mr. Walter Money, F.S.A., has gathered some information about this interesting relic of the past. It is situated on a part of what was Cold Ash Common ... and has long been known as 'Wild Duck Pond;' it is now an oval piece of water, not much more than 20 feet across, surrounded by arable land.

"About thirty years ago, before the Common was enclosed, the season being dry, the 'Wild Duck Pond' was cleared by Mr. Whiting, of Longlane Gate, who thought the accumulated soil or mud might be useful on the land. After the removal of the top soil, some rough timber framing was met with, lying across the centre of the pit, forming, it would seem, a rude platform. A space was cleared about ten feet deep, where a heavy log of oak was found lying across from side to side. This was not removed. The work was then abandoned; the soil taken out being found to be of no use to the land. About thirteen years ago, the excavation was repeated by Mr. Lancaster, the then tenant of this part of Col. Loyd-Lindsay's property; but the investigation was not pursued far, and the water having flowed into the digging, 'Wild Duck Pond' was again restored nearly to its former condition." (_Trans. of Newbury District Field Club_, vol. ii. p. 148.)

Remains suggestive of a pile-structure were also observed by Mr. Dolby in 1870 in one of the ponds at Fence Wood, near Hermitage. Here in digging they found "a sort of pyramidal dwelling beneath the ground, the roof being covered with clay about a foot thick. This roof was supported by a large piece of timber, some twenty-six feet long, which they had got out. There were causeways there also at a depth of fifteen or sixteen feet. The water had long since rushed in and filled up the excavation, so that nothing further is known of this place." (_Ibid._, vol. i. p. 123.)

LAKE-DWELLINGS IN HOLDERNESS, COUNTY OF YORK.

The discovery of lake-dwellings in Holderness is due to Mr. Thomas Boynton, Bridlington (lately of Ulrome Grange), whose attention was first directed to the subject in the spring of 1880. Previous to the excavation of a great drainage scheme about the beginning of the present century this district appears to have been intersected by a series of sinuous and irregularly shaped lakes, whose surplus waters partly found an outlet, not in the present artificially constructed channels which convey them directly into the German Ocean, but in quite a different direction, along a sluggish watercourse, still extant, which falls into the Humber near Hull. That this latter was in former times the natural drainage course of the entire waters of Holderness is the opinion of Mr. Boynton and other geologists with whom I had the pleasure of discussing the matter. Mr. G. W. Lamplugh believes that the Gypsey Race--a stream which now enters the sea at Bridlington--at some former period continued its course through this chain of lakes and finally debouched by the same route into the Humber. The natural causes which have effected this great change in the hydrographical conditions of Holderness are to be found in the steadily progressing encroachment of the sea on the land, which here goes on at a very rapid rate. When the sea lay many miles farther off, which undoubtedly was the case in former times, it is supposed that the intervening land stood somewhat higher, and that consequently Holderness was a complete water-basin, with its outlet towards the Humber. But as the sea advanced, gradually undermining and washing away the soft glacial deposits which here form its shores, this natural basin became, as it were, tapped in the middle and so allowed the waters of its upper reaches to escape directly into the sea--a process precisely analogous to that by which its final drainage was effected by human agencies.

Nor is this opinion based exclusively on geological considerations, as we have positive historical proofs in the early annals of the country that formerly towns existed whose sites are now far out in the sea. Thus Mr. Poulson ("History of Holderness," p. 467) states that "the writer of the chronicle of the Abbey of Meaux, in lamenting the losses which the abbey had sustained, observes that they received nearly £30 from the town of Hythe, in the parish of Skipsea, chiefly from the tithe of fish; but now, says he, 1396, _the place is totally destroyed_--a proof that it was gone into the sea before the commencement of the fifteenth century." The lake of Withou, which is recorded as having paid tithe for its fish in 1288 (_Ibid._, 468), is not only at present completely drained, but more than half of its bed is washed away, and the sea beach, which runs right across it, presents a most instructive section of its sedimentary deposits and subsequent growth of peat.

From these remarks it will be seen that, in estimating the precise physical conditions that prevailed when the lacustrine abodes I am now about to describe were constructed, we have to deal with problems of a somewhat discursive character, and which, consequently, lie beyond the scope of this work. It is clear, however, that, previous to its artificial drainage, the district was overspread with a succession of shallow lakes and marshes, pre-eminently well adapted for the construction of lake-dwellings. The lakes are now gone and instead of them we have artificial drains winding along the lowest portions of their former beds. It is along the steep banks of these sluggish water-channels that Mr. Boynton has detected, in various places, piles and transverse beams, which he justly considers to be the remains of ancient lake-dwellings. Up to the present time indications of five stations have been observed, which for facility of reference the discoverer names as follows--(1) West Furze, (2) Round Hill, (3) Barmston, (4) Gransmoor, and (5) Little Kelk.

These are situated at considerable intervals from each other, varying from half a mile to two or three miles, and as they are deeply buried their investigation entails a considerable amount of labour and expense. It is only the stations at West Furze and Round Hill that have as yet been subjected to anything like a systematic exploration. A few years ago Mr. Boynton at his own expense carried out a series of excavations at the former station by which its character has been satisfactorily determined, and subsequently he has undertaken to examine the second with a grant from the Society of Antiquaries; but these works are not yet completed, and at present they are entirely suspended owing to the volume of water in the drain.

I may state that I have on several occasions visited the locality and so became practically conversant with the general features of these discoveries. Moreover, for the special object of this work, Mr. Boynton has freely placed all the materials in his possession at my disposal and given me permission to add to my notes the accompanying illustrations of a few of the more interesting objects.

_West Furze._--This was the first discovered, and the circumstances that led to the discovery are thus described by Mr. Boynton (B. 373, p. 300):--

"In the spring of the year 1880 the Commissioners of Beverley and Barmston Drainage found it necessary to deepen one of these drains (the branch called the Skipsea drain).

"A short time after this was done I was walking in one of my fields adjoining, and picked up some perforated bone implements. I shortly afterwards had the earth, which had been excavated at this place, turned over, and found more implements of the same class. Also two made from the antlers of the red-deer, and a small piece of red ochre, with several stones which bear traces of having been utilised.

"In the month of May, 1881, the water in the drain at that time being very low, and having obtained the services of half a dozen men accustomed to similar work, I had the water dammed, and dug through peat to a bed of gravel, 9 feet 6 inches from the surface.

"We found three more perforated bone implements, all in the side of the drain, and at the depth of 7 feet, also several stakes and piles with remains of brushwood. I then determined, when opportunity offered, to excavate in the field, and proceeded to do so in December last (1881). We commenced by digging a trench parallel with the drain and 60 feet in length. This trench and the drain formed two sides of a square, running north and south."

Subsequently Mr. Boynton cleared out the entire enclosure thus marked out by these primary trenches and found the whole of it to be occupied with an artificial structure of wood like the so-called fascines of Switzerland or the crannogs of Scotland and Ireland. The depth of decayed brushwood was very considerable, and it was pierced here and there with upright piles. At the margin these piles were thicker, and in one place, the south-east corner, he states that they met with great "numbers of stakes, with some brushwood, the earth being a peaty marl." Further progress from this point is thus described:--

"When clear of the slope there is a decided layer of brushwood about two feet thick, also studded with stakes, and along the inner side of the south trench we found a number of piles from 5 to 7 inches in diameter, in a line, and mostly upright. One of these we got out quite perfect. It is of oak wood, 4 feet in length, 6 inches in diameter, and has a forked top which has apparently been intended for carrying a horizontal beam or support. The piles are about 4 feet apart. One had given way and had been replaced.

"As the trench is not exactly in a line with the piles, several are now left standing and partially exposed. In this portion of the digging we found several bones of animals, a peculiar grinding-stone of whinstone or granite, almost semicircular in shape, 12 inches long by 7 broad, a flint core, a stone with the centre hollowed, a hammer-stone, and two fragments of rude pottery.

"Hazel-nuts are numerous; several I have picked out appear to have been opened by squirrels."

The drain appears to have intersected the woodwork, and as the excavations were confined to one side, the exact dimensions of the lake-dwelling cannot be stated. Its length was approximately about 70 feet, and its breadth probably one-third less. On my first inspection of the locality after these excavations had been completed I was struck with the narrowness of the lacustrine area in which the structure was reared. From the nature of the adjacent ground it was readily seen that the lake widened very considerably both above and below; but here it was so contracted that the woodwork appeared to occupy the entire breadth of the waterway--a fact which suggested to me the idea of its being a bridge or military stronghold. However, on closer inspection I saw that the accumulation of rain-wash had considerably encroached on the original bed of the lake, and I am satisfied that there would be, in former times, sufficient space for giving to the dwelling a complete insular character.

The following relics, now in the possession of Mr. Boynton, were collected in the course of the investigations:--

_Horn and Bone._--The perforated bone implements (=Fig. 176=_a_, Nos. 1 and 2), of which not less than eighteen were collected, are the most remarkable objects. They all consist of the articulate extremities of the long bones of some large bovine animals, with the exception of two, one of which was the thick end of a scapula and the other a cervical vertebra. The latter was not manipulated, and the reason it is here classified as an implement is that a portion of a wooden handle, which had been inserted into the spinal aperture, still remained. In this manner the vertebra became a formidable weapon, which, when used as a club or skull-cracker, could scarcely be matched by any work of art. I am of opinion that all these perforated bone implements were simply warlike weapons. Three handpicks, made from the horns of the red deer--the brow antler forming the pick and the body of the horn, stripped of its antlers, the handle. Also a club, or broken pick, and several portions of worked tines.

_Stone._--Three hammer-stones of natural pebbles; two anvils, one flat and circular and the other having a slight cavity on one side; six polishers, or rubbers; two flint cores, and about 50 substantial-looking flakes. One flake was a good example of a knife, and showed evidence of having been used; three other flakes were secondarily chipped and converted into neat scrapers and a saw (No. 3).

_Bronze and Jet._--One bronze spear-head (No. 4), and a fragment of a jet arm-band, like those from the Ayrshire crannogs.

_Pottery._--Fragments of a coarse unornamented pottery were found, out of which one vessel has been restored, having the following dimensions:--11 inches wide at mouth; 12 inches in the widest, a little below the mouth; and 7½ at base. Height, 7½ inches.

About thirty yards distant from the lake-dwelling, in a peaty hollow in the field, Mr. Boynton found pottery of a similar character. It was buried about three feet in the peat. The depth of peat over the lake-dwelling was somewhat more, being nowhere less than 4 feet.

_Fauna._--No expert has as yet made a report on the osseous remains, but they are believed to represent the following animals:--_Bos longifrons_ and _primigenius_, horse (a small breed), dog or wolf, beaver, ox, pig, sheep or goat, deer, otter (?), goose, and some small birds.

One well-formed human skull, with portion of an upper jaw.

ROUND HILL.--So far as the excavation of this station has been prosecuted the woodwork appears to have been precisely similar to the former, but the area occupied is of larger dimensions. Mr. Boynton thinks that the piles here belong to different periods of time, and a curious fact which he pointed out to Canon Greenwell and myself seems to support this view. He showed us the point of one pile which had penetrated and terminated in the stump of another, from which he inferred that before the former had been inserted the latter had already been in a state of decay. The decayed brushwood had also a greater thickness than at West Furze. The station has not, however, yielded many relics, the principal objects being a small stone celt, portion of a perforated stone hammer, and the half of a jet bracelet. The latter appears to be unique. It is of a flattish form, and ornamented on its outer side by five prominent ridges, running circularly. The marginal ridges are separated from the three central ones by a wider interval, in which runs a smaller ridge or bead. These ridges were evidently manipulated without the use of a turning machine, as they are not perfectly uniform, though the artists intention was to make them so.

In regard to the other three stations there are only indications of their being of a similar character, such as piles and transverse woodwork along the bottom and sides of the drain. At Barmston, a stone axe, a perforated bone implement, like those from West Furze, and bits of charcoal were found. At Gransmoor a very large quantity of broken bones lay exposed in the bottom of the drain, amidst a profusion of oak piles and beams, but among them no implements have been found.

IV.--GENERAL REMARKS ON THE LAKE-DWELLINGS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

Having placed before you, with a considerable amount of fullness, certain details of the investigations of ancient lake-dwellings that have been made within the British Isles during the last half century, I proceed now to the discussion of some facts bearing on the ultimate question of their origin and development. As my conclusions are of a somewhat argumentative character, involving the consideration of some collateral phenomena as well as a critical analysis of the special materials derived from archæological research, it will be advisable, in order to secure, as far as possible, precision, at least in methods, to concentrate attention on a few definite problems--convenient foci as it were for grouping my observations. I propose accordingly to deal successively with their structural peculiarities; their range in space and time, and how far this range coincides with ethnography; and, finally, their relation to analogous remains in Europe.

Except in a very few instances, which will be afterwards more specially referred to, all the lake-dwellings hitherto examined in Great Britain and Ireland were constructed on artificial islands made generally of wood, but sometimes of stones and such other materials as might be considered suitable. Although no such instructive examples as those at Lochlee, Buston, etc., have been recorded in Ireland, there can be no doubt that those of the latter country were built on the same general principles. Indeed, few of the writers on Irish crannogs have paid much attention to the structure of the islands, and, beyond the mere statement that they were stockaded, palisaded, or surrounded by one or more circles of piles, they have supplied no explanation of the attachments and proper function of the surrounding piles. But though the purpose of the mortised beams does not appear to have been at first well understood in Ireland, it is of importance to observe that their existence has not been entirely overlooked. Dr. Reeves, writing of a crannog in the county of Antrim, says: "These piles were from 17 to 20 feet long, and from 6 to 8 inches thick, driven into the bed of the lough, and projecting above this bed about 5 or 6 feet. They were bound together at the top by horizontal oak-beams, into which they were mortised, and secured in the mortise by stout wooden pegs." (_Proc. R. I. A._, vol. vii. p. 155.)

Mr. G. H. Kinahan in a paper on the crannogs of Lough Rea thus incidentally alludes to the subject:--"A little north-west of the double row, in the old working, there is a part of a circle of piles; and in another, a row of piles running nearly east and west. Mr. Hemsworth of Danesfort, who spent many of his younger days boating on the lake, and knows every part of it, informs me that on the upper end of some of the upright piles there were the marks of where horizontal beams were mortised on them. These seemed now to have disappeared, as I did not remark them." (_Ibid._, vol. viii. p. 417.)

These are by no means isolated observations on this point, and when we consider how readily the exposed woodwork of an uninhabited crannog would be destroyed, either by the hand of man or the natural processes of decay, we need not wonder that it is only the stumps of the piles and generally submerged portions of these singular structures that remain to the present day.