100 A SUPPOSED NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT.
as in Holland, in Brittany, and Switzerland, and with them are
associated relics of the stone-age, while the dwelling-places
themselves continued to be occupied in later times. At Skitts
Hill an artificial floor was raised above the level of the water.
This floor was carefully formed by mixing together clay, sand,
Fig. 4. Diagram of suggested method of shaping wooden stakes.
gravel-stones, brown mottled clay, and chalky boulder-clay,
forming a mixture which could only be produced by human
contrivance and human hands. To support and secure this arti-
ficial concretion, wooden stakes were driven into the ballast of
the lake or river. Outside the raised platform there was still
water, in which the peaty mud has accumulated until it has
levelled all up ; and it was, no doubt, into this water which
surrounded the floor on which the huts were built that numerous
relics fell, or were swept by the dwellers. So large was the
quantity of wood and other material used to construct this plat-
form, that in the course of years some tons have been dug out
by Mr. Brown's workmen, and afterwards returned to fill up the
excavations. The distance of the platform to the land was
about 10 feet ; I measured it as nearly as I could. In one
Fig. 5. End of pointed stake, probably made in the manner mentioned
in text. One-fourth natural size.
instance, an oak tree had its stem, without root, about 15 feet
long, set towards the land, as though to form a gangway.
The artificial relics found at this level belong to an age prior
to the use of metal. [? Ed.] The method employed for splitting
and parting the timber into lengths shows the use of bone or