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.
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