The pile-dwelling occupied a rectangular space, near the centre of the _bacino_, about 80 yards long from north to south and 30 to 40 yards broad. The turf here varied in thickness from 1 to 2 yards, according to the state of moisture; below which there was a muddy stratum containing the roots of water plants (_fango con radice_), among which the tops of the piles appeared. This layer was 16 inches thick, and immediately below it was the _strato archeologico_, which varied in thickness from 2 to 8 inches, and contained the usual _débris_ of human occupancy embedded in a matrix of black peat mud and earth. Below this again was a stratum of black earth, mixed with the whitish clay or marl of the ancient lake bottom, in which the points of the piles were firmly fixed. The piles were pointed at the base and irregularly fixed, 4 or 5 to the square yard, and varied in length from 3½ to 5 feet, with a diameter of 4 to 8 inches. Many prepared beams either of round or split stems, some over 20 feet in length, lay buried in the peat, as if they had fallen from a platform. Regazzoni draws attention to some short beams having a square-cut hole at each end. One of these beams measured 24½ inches long, 4¾ broad, and 3½ thick, and the holes were 2¾ by 1½ inches. The top of a tree whose branches were neatly chopped off at the distance of 6 or 7 inches from the stem was supposed to have been used as a ladder. Castelfranco thinks the points of the piles were fashioned by some sharp-cutting instrument of metal, as some of the cuts were 11 inches long, and such as no stone weapon could have produced ("non credo che una scure di pietra sia mai stata capace di tanto"). This observation is very significant in face of the fact that there is no object of metal among the relics from Lagozza, with the exception of a fibula (=Fig. 61=, No. 18), found in the lower part of the turf and, therefore, outside the well-defined relic-bed. This fibula belongs to the early Iron Age, and it is doubtful whether it belonged to the inhabitants of the palafitte. The same author also states that where charcoal and partially burnt wood were in greater abundance there also the relics were more numerous, and hence he concludes that the settlement came to an end by a conflagration ("il risultato di un incendio generale o di parecchi parziali").