but no drawings of them. Owing to the fact that most of the lake dwellings were burned down, a number of perishable articles were carbonized and thus preserved for inspection much in the same way as similar remains excavated at Pompeii. In this manner antiquarians have been able to identify samples of wheat, oats, millet, flax, poppy, etc., as well as apples, hazelnuts, plums, strawberries, raspberries, peas, lentils and other vegetable substances; they have also found the bones of horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and cats, and of bears, deer, beaver, swans, geese and various species of fish.
For a long time there was a great deal of speculation about the appearance of the lake dwellings, until the fortunate discovery of a hut at Schüssenried in Württemberg in a very fair state of preservation, threw light upon the subject. It is a rectangular wooden structure, measuring some ten by seven meters, divided into two rooms, one of which only had a door giving access to the exterior. In the first and smaller room were discovered the remains of a stone hearth; the flooring was made of round logs laid side by side, while the walls were constructed of split logs. During the stone age the platforms upon which these huts rested were considerably smaller and nearer the land than in the succeeding ages. Narrow bridges connected the platforms with the land, and ladders led down to the water’s surface.
Of human remains there is not a very large collection, but the few skulls and skeletons found in the cemeteries or in the deposits, reveal that the race of the Lake Dwellers was probably smaller than our own, although well formed, and in no sense inferior to us in anatomical structure.
Many questions naturally arise in regard to the origin and fate of this curious people, which cannot be answered with absolute certainty. There is still room for endless speculation. Dr. Ferdinand Keller was of the opinion that the remnants he examined at Obermeilen were of Celtic origin, but his theory has not been confirmed by subsequent discoveries. It is now generally conceded that the earliest Lake Dwellers at all events,
