ItisalmostimpossibletoclasswithanycertaintythenumerousLakeStationsofSwitzerland。SomefewcertainlydatefromtheStoneage，othersfromthetransitionperiod，betweenitandthatoftheearlyuseofmetals，orevenfromtheBronzeage。Asthereforetheyhavebeenoccupiedatdifferenttimesbydifferentpeople，someofthemhavingevenbeenstillinuseinthetimeoftheRomans，itismostdifficulttofixwithanyprecisionthedatetowhichbelongthevariousobjectsmixedtogetherbeneaththedeepwatersofthelakes。Wecanonlysaythatthenetsdifferverymuchinthesizeofthemeshes，andthethicknessoftheropeused。ThosefoundatRobenhausenareverylikethoseinuseinFranceatthepresentday。Therehas，infact，beennoadvanceintheartofmakingfishing-tacklesincetheremotedaysoftheLakeDwellers。
Weareignorantofthemodeofmanufactureofprehistoricnets。DidtheLakeDwellers，assomearchaeologistsaredisposedtothink，usealoom？DidtheyuseshuttlesandrollerssuchasareemployedbytheEsquimauxandCaliforniansofthepresentday？Itisimpossibletosay，butitissupposedthatthebears’teethsharpenedtoapoint，foundinsomestations，wereusedtotightenthemeshes。Thesemeshesweregenerallysquare，andeachonewasfinishedofwithaknotofthesamesizeateachintersection。
Theleadweightssoindispensabletofishermenofthepresentdayforsinkingthenets，wererepresentedinprehistorictimesbystones。Thesestones，whicharedrilledornotched，arefoundinalltheLakeStations。ThefragmentsofpotterypiercedwithaholefoundatSchussenried，aLakeStationoftheStoneageontheFeder-SeeWurtemburg，wereprobablyusedforthesamepurpose。InsomeoftheSwissLakeStationshavealsobeenfoundpiecesofwoodandcork，piercedwithoneormoreholes，whichhadcertainlyservedasfloats。
Numerousstoneimplementsofthemostprimitiveforms，oftenofrocknotnativetothecountry，havebeenfoundinsomeoftheislandsofGreece，aswellasinCorsica，Sardinia，Elba，andSicily。Thesediscoveriesbearwitnesstothepresenceofmanintheseislandsataveryremoteantiquity，thoughnoothertracesoftheexistenceofprehistorichumanbeingshaveasyetbeenfoundthere。Thesemencanonlyhavereachedtheislandsbywayofthesea。BoatsweretheonlymeansofcommunicationbetweentheLakeDwellersofSwitzerlandandthemainland，and，aswehaveseen，theancientScandinavianshuntedfishonthedeepocean。Wemustthereforeadmitthatattemptsatnavigationweremadeintheveryearliestdaysofhumanity。Alan，impelledbynecessity，orperhapsonlybycuriosity，wasnotafraidtolaunchhisbark，firstupontherivers，andlateruponthemoreformidablewavesoftheseaIlliroburetaestriplexCircapectuserat，quifragilemtruciCommisitpelagoratemPrimus。[74]
TheLatinpoetisright，andwecannotbutadmirethosewhowerethefirsttobravetheterrorsofthedeepandthehorrorsofthetempest；