This construction bears a close family resemblance to the Irish type, in which the huts stood, so to speak, on _terra firma_, and not _en l’air_, above the surface of the water. Like Irish dwellings of analogous formation, this species of substructure has as yet been found only in small lakes with soft and muddy bottoms, and of little depth and extent; they owe their origin to the fact, that piles driven into the oozy lake bottom could not have supported the necessary weight; for, if heavily laden, they must have sunk altogether below the surface of the water, or at least could not have retained their relative positions. This formation seems to have been of more ancient date than the artificial stages upon piles alone, inasmuch as few, if any, instances have been discovered in which bronze remains are associated with fascine dwellings. So far as can be judged from the manner in which the timbers are mortised together, as well as from the characteristics of the fictile ware found, their inhabitants differed in nothing from those who, owing to their better acquaintance with metal, constructed dwellings of greater solidity, in deeper water, and under more varied conditions. “_It was impossible to adopt the fascine structure in the larger lakes_, for it must have been foreseen that the waves which could drive amongst the upright piles of the usual pile dwelling without injuring them, would, in stormy weather, wash over the edges of the fascine platform and tear it in pieces.”[13] The “fascine” lake dwelling in the lake of Fuschl, near the Mondsee in Austria, resembles, in most respects, those found in Switzerland, Ireland, and Scotland. This little lake is rich in fish, and its banks abound with game; on its western shore, in a little inlet, lies an artificial island nearly circular, about fifty paces in diameter, separated from the mainland by a narrow channel, now almost choked with peat-moss and marsh plants. The islet is only just above the ordinary water-level, and on inspection its construction was found to be as follows:--