The mountain Democrat., 1863-02-28
a 17977f


With tho toRea aff q
serve thea ke aasas1
disks Of stone 5saS
their iskeys sevxe6 - =
them aass ~ agAnAsa I
The pieresd nuts psW -
mud, were, no doubt, tpys-Wisl wihs -
rattles, the mothers sigqssa NJ Ga1a.
lings. fps twyssFs=sz
Agriculture, also, is showa tsihaseA eAsR
somewhat advanced amOag the A1sss.
trians of this first period. WkilBsAaEa-
ing and. fishing, doubtless, sppplisA Ahe
greater part Of their EOd. and 1wiid fFliltt
also furnish ed portion Of their Alisat; /;
they at the same time rsared hsraa ct
beeves, sheep, goats, swine,. and emnlpvad
the dog as a substitute in the cara II ahese
domestic animals. They manuIaelgre4a
kind Of cheese in vessels pierced va
holes cultivated the apple, pedr, ard
plum tree, and stored away their fruit pf
the winter. They sowed barley aMa 'diC.
.ferent sorts Of grain Of excelle6t duality.
Among the ruins Of LacustFiSn ViIIAEs,
on the Lake Of Constance, n. E6EIs dh.
covered an apcient storc-hOuse ,eoat6nsig
about hundred measures Of barley GMd
wheat, both shelled and In the gaE he
found, likewise. q portion Of real hread,
which had been preserved by its easb6a.
ization, and consisted of crushed Rsalns,
to which the bran still adhered. Thus,
with the exception Of poultry and eesA.
the food Of the primitive inhabitants Of
Helvetia in all respects resemhled apF
own. .......4
That the tribes Of The Sage Of .EaonsS
carried on not unimportant commesce
with distant countries, is proved hY the
fact that there have been found, 0n. the
Lacustrian sites, great number Of sub.
stances foreign to Switzerland. The pro-
jectile arms, made of Silex, eOnld Aago
come only from Gaul or GeFmAay. They
received coral from the tFibea ef ahesA Nd
iterranean, purchased yellow asphae kam
the dwellers on the Baltic, and. imnerAed
the valuable nephrite from the coqntEies
Of the East. -
Like the Celts. the Lacustrjaps aeem 40
have adored the Divinity in open nature,
on the summit Of hills, under the myske.
rious shades Of the woods, on the h0aom
Of the waves, or more especially GO tho
foot of the erratic blocks, which fiieY
doubtless regarded as stones fAlien fr0m
heaven. fa5 ~
The ancient tumuli Of Switssriend, BY
their remarkable elevation, seem to prove
that the men Of the " Age Of Stone cher.
ished profound respect for their dead
These were deposited il, the sgpuavhfsi
cavity, with the arms folded ,acTUsV mo
another on the breast, and the knaex
drawn up beneath the chin, as if 10 tasAiEy
by this sttitude-which is that Of the Ia
fant before binh-that man 10 dying ca.
ters into the k0mb of the uniyersaLwo
ther. In no instance has there baep
found any veStige, in the tHmuh Of this
era, which would authorize us to suppose
that the aborigines of Switzerland syeS
sacrificed human victims to the msnssp II
their dead. Those ferocious sisea &eaEh
the Helvetians Of the /" Agefaf ysoaisNsl-
ebrated at later period, were onsRantsay
unknown to the LAcustrians. J, ,salses
To what periods Of history must wsra-
fer that "Age Of Stone" revealed vnain
the deposit Of archaeological Temaine Of
the lakes Of SwitzerlandI By the exam.
ination Of the alluvial deposits in The
marshy valley Ct the 0rbe, and By .calcp.
lating the rate Of progress Of the afluyJam,
M. Troyon was led to Ok the construction
o. the Lacustrian habitarions Of 'Ehsm-
blon, by the primitive colonists Of MeIye-
tia, at 2,000 years before the Chfik4ian
era. Thanks to his researches, the 1liSaa.
ry OF UsGN, in the countries Of Weseirp
Europe, is removed backward tWO th0aa-
and years. Henceforth ii is aiact assafed
TO science, that race ofhuntees, EaAEi-
culturiSts, and Of artisans, lived 10 Have
tin eight or ten centuries before the war
Of Troy. ard commenced With fh8ITs16aa
established in Germany and on the coasts
OF the Baltic. We learn, moreover, GaaQt
of the greatest importance for the history
of the globe itself, namely, that the cli-
mate OF Helvetia has not sensihly saxieA
since four thousand years ego.
| The end Of the first age must have been
marked by terrible eveais. The s.Bropss"
abruptly follows the .'StOnAa. Ie s@as
because two races had Oomesinto collision.
In almost all the LacustFian Villages the
verge Of the two epochs Is sharply lgi.
Gated by the burning Of dwellings eAd.SAa
murder Of the people. The greater Earf
OF the pile-work settlements, both Of sst-
ern and Western Switzerland, wees e0m:
pletely abandoned. and since that czech
their remains have been buried bsUsath
the waters. The intrpders we're probably
of the Celtic stock. and were mors civ:
ilized race. The villages Of the - Ags Of
| Bronze" much surnass in nnmhae AhaaA nk
the preceding period; but the cnnstruc:
tions, in general, underwent no change Of
form, doubtless because .ths customs Of
the people remained the same: ''-'
AS to the choice of sites, there b ap-
parent, in the second as well As the 'Nrst,
a rare sagacity. The points Of the slior6
over against the places colonized BY tkesS
old LacuStrian tribes have, for tie 6osE
part, not ceased to be occupied; tEsa e
our own day, by cities and impCrtaSksiE:
iges. The city of ZURICH covers . Lacus:
trian settlement Of the Age OF Stone.
During the Age Of Rronze / vilikkp on
piles might have been seen on the sits OI
the present city Of Geneva. IA '
The duration Of the Age Of BFonzs was
very-ioRg; but the destructiOn pf the
Lacustrian settlements Of this eF6 .WAs aa
violent as was that of the aquatic ha5itA:
tions of the preceding age. The couapeF:
ors Of the Lacustrian colonies Of this ere
were the Helvetians, people armed With
iron, superior in the material part of evil:
zation, but protesting bar6aFOde relie-
ion. The conquest was complsss. Ehs
primitive people disappeared I'd AaEy
has not even recorded their FninE s
Who were thess abogiia -
archaeology has, - IL wsEa
by an examination Of IT, Eslnefa -
in the mud Of the Iakas g 81 (
Nothing, as yet, auEhorisas ~ =
| UivA q dAHnfKn ana,lvmu II - - &s1kxsee3