Chapter XX: Part 20

To the food supply derived from agriculture, the rearing of domestic animals, and the seeds and fruits of wild plants, they added the produce of hunting and fishing; and the remains of the weapons used in these pursuits are numerous. Arrow-points of flint and sometimes of other minerals, as rock crystal and jade, and of bone, are amongst the most common relics; and even a few of the bows made of yew wood, notwithstanding their liability to decay, have come to light, two from Robenhausen, and one from each of the stations of Vinelz, Sutz, and Clairvaux.

It appears that the earlier arrow-points were of the triangular type, with or without stems, and it is supposed that the addition of barbs was an evolutionary process of improvement, and of course of later date. Thus none of the arrows from Schaffis have barbs, but on the other hand Vinelz has supplied some beautiful examples (=Fig. 7=). The barbed forms are also prevalent on the palafittes of Lake Varese and Polada, but they are entirely absent from the stations in the Mondsee, Attersee, and Laibach Moor.

The discovery of some arrow-points with a portion of the wooden shaft still attached has disclosed the fact that this union was accomplished, at least in some instances, by means of an adhesive material like asphalt. In the Neuchâtel district this material might, indeed, be the natural product of this name, as it is so readily found in the neighbouring _Val de Travers_. It is more probable, however, that, as suggested by Dr. Dom, of Tübingen, it was the manufactured product of birch-bark--a suggestion which explains the frequency with which rolls of this material were found among the _débris_ of so many lake-dwellings. This adhesive material was used, not only for fixing arrow-points and other implements in their handles, but also, when mixed with charcoal, to give a black gloss or varnish to pottery. Its discovery and application for such purposes in Polada, Mondsee, Schussenried, and many of the Swiss stations of the Stone Age, as St. Aubin, Locras, Moosseedorf, etc., proves that its use was prevalent over the whole lake-dwelling area of the Stone Age.

Spear-heads and daggers were manufactured from flint, and specimens of the latter have been found inserted into a wooden handle or surrounded by a withe so as to give a better grip to the weapon. There were also very effective weapons of this class made from the leg-bones of deer and other animals, as well as from the tines of staghorns, etc.

For the purpose of carrying on the ordinary avocations of domestic and social life the lake-dwellers were in possession of a varied assortment of tools and implements, the precise function of some of them, however, being difficult to determine. They had hatchets, knives, saws, scrapers, borers, etc., of flint and other hard stones. Cutting instruments were also made of horn, bone, and the tusks of the wild boar, as well as an endless variety of pointers, chisels, etc. With such tools they constructed wooden houses, scooped out canoes, and shaped wood into various kinds of dishes, clubs, and handles. The stone celt or axe-head, the most indispensable of all implements to the Stone Age people, was mounted in a variety of ways. Most frequently there was a casing of horn into which the axe was fixed, and this casing was then fitted into a wooden handle (=Fig. 185=, Nos. 8 and 10). Sometimes the horn fixing had a =V=-shaped slit in the opposite end from the hatchet (=Fig. 7=, No. 13), which fitted into a corresponding slit in a crooked handle (=Fig. 185=, Nos. 1, 13, and 14). When locked the instrument became a kind of adze, the cutting edge transverse to the axis of the handle. This method Dr. Gross thinks was more especially used in the Copper Age. At Wangen horn fixings were rarely used, the hatchet being inserted into a split cleft in a crooked branch. It is interesting to note that this method was in use among the prehistoric salt-miners at Hallein, near Salzburg,[125] and at Castione in Italy (=Fig. 185=, No. 13).[126] The smaller axes and chisels, as well as a variety of flint implements, were not infrequently inserted directly into suitable portions of deer-horn, as shown in many of the accompanying illustrations.

The perforated axe of stone or horn had simply a wooden handle firmly fixed by a wedge inserted into a split at its end in the perforation, an example of which, found at Schussenried, Mr. Frank carefully preserves. Besides these there is a variety of objects of horn and bone which might have been used as implements or weapons, but mostly, I should say, for agricultural purposes, such as picks (=Fig. 185=, Nos. 4 and 7), hammers, clubs, etc. Some of the smaller bone implements were also inserted into handles, specimens of which were particularly numerous at St. Aubin.

Flint saws were extremely abundant, and are to be found among the remains of almost all the earlier stations, many of which still retain their wooden or horn handles. Only in Polada has the compound and double-handed saw been found (=Fig. 67=, No. 12). It consists of a casing of wood with four flints cemented into a groove along one of the edges.[127]

Another curious implement supposed to be a saw was found at Vinelz, and is now in the Cantonal Museum at Berne (=Fig. 185=, No. 17). It consists of a massive handle of wood, evidently fashioned for the hand, with three worked flints stuck in a row and kept in their place by asphalt.

Among domestic utensils, in addition to pottery, are small cups and boxes made of horn (Nos. 12 and 18). There are also spoons, pins, needles, buttons, awls, knives, flax-combs, etc., of bone. Combs for the hair were generally made of wood in the usual form (=Fig. 11=, No. 7). Another most ingenious method was by binding together a series of prepared twigs with their ends folded one way, as seen in =Fig. 185=, No. 19.

Wooden dishes cut out of the solid, such as ladles, bowls, tubs, etc., have been found in many stations, but especially at Robenhausen; and there can be no doubt that similar vessels were in general use among the early lake-dwellers.

I have already noticed the finding of fishing-nets at Robenhausen and Vinelz, and a fish-hook ingeniously made from a boar's tusk. Other fish-hooks were made of bone, as seen in the illustrations from Bodmann, Wangen, and Bauschanze.

Nor were these early settlers insensible to the charms of personal ornament. Shells (both recent and fossilised), coloured pebbles, the teeth of carnivorous animals, ornamented pieces of bone and horn, stone and clay beads, and even roundlets of the human skull, were pierced for suspension, and worn either as pendants or necklaces (Nos. 9, 11, and 20 to 24).

The skill displayed in the manufacture of the perforated stone axes and hammers has often excited the astonishment of antiquaries; and many of them thought that it was hardly possible to bore perfectly round or oval holes through such hard materials without the use of metal tools. Yet this was undoubtedly done, as we find not only bored implements, but smoothly sawn portions, in the very earliest stations, as, for example, Schaffis, Moosseedorf, Wangen, Robenhausen, etc. From the former there are in the Berne Museum stone celts with a round hole and one with an oval-shaped perforation. Quite as inexplicable are the numerous fragments of stone, clearly indicating, from the parallel grooving, that they were sawn off. Some of these pieces are by no means small, and such as could be readily accounted for by the use of flint saws. In the Museum of Zürich there is a large water-rolled stone of serpentine, measuring 14 by 9 by 8 inches, which was dredged up at Wollishofen, showing a cut 11 inches long and ⅝ inch deep. One side of the cut was broken off, but the fragment was fortunately also recovered and when made to fit in its place, which it does to a nicety, the maximum breadth of the cut can be readily ascertained to be ⅜ of an inch. The sides of this cut are finely striated with parallel grooves, which are not exactly straight, but bent slightly downwards in the middle. Before the sawing was begun there are clear indications of a superficial groove having been made by chipping, evidently with the intention of guiding the saw in the initiatory stages of the process. What could this saw have been made of? I do not think that with a flint implement this cut could have been made. It is as regular as that from a modern steel instrument. It is now supposed that the sawing of stones was performed with a thin wooden board and some dry sand. The late Dr. Keller experimented with these simple means, and found that they were quite sufficient for the purpose. He also practically proved that in the same way, with a wooden tube set in rapid motion round its axis, he could easily bore a hole in the hardest stone. (B. 336, p. 49.) Anyone visiting the Museum in Zürich may practically test the efficacy of these processes for himself, and the obliging custodian delights in showing the method of working. Soft wood is found to be better than hard, as the former takes up more of the particles of the sand, which act like fine teeth in grinding the stone. That tubes of some kind were used for boring stones by the lake-dwellers is demonstrated by the finding of hundreds of round cores, the result of boring on this principle, as well as, sometimes, implements with the boring begun but incompleted, showing the round core still in the hole as shown in =Fig. 184=, No. 6. In the Zürich Museum there is also a staghorn hammer from Robenhausen with a partially bored hole having a core in its centre, thus proving that horns were also manipulated in the same way (=Fig. 24=, No. 12).

No problem has for many years puzzled archæologists more than the effort to account for the finding, from time to time in various parts of Europe, of those remarkably elegant implements made from the mineral substance commonly known as jade. Hitherto they have been generally found isolated in the soil or in graves of the Stone Age, such as the dolmens of Brittany. The favourite theory, seeing that no local habitat could be assigned to this mineral, was that these implements were imported by the original neolithic people, who were supposed to have migrated westwards from the plains of Northern India. The discovery of a large number of celts and small chisels in the lake-dwellings, together with a few other objects made of nephrite, jadeite, and chloromelanite, has reopened the problem as to their origin, with the result, however, of making the controversial flame burn brisker than ever. Independent of the lake-dwelling finds, the number of jade objects now known in Europe may be roughly stated at 200, about the half of which come from some 44 departments of France. Of the remaining 100 about 80 are from Western Germany, the rest being assigned to various localities in Italy,[128] Austria, and Greece. According to the opinions of competent mineralogists the vast majority of those from Western Europe are made of jadeite and chloromelanite, the number made of the former being slightly in excess of the latter. In the French group there is only one of nephrite, from the vicinity of Rheims, and in the German group three or four, found in Baden and Bavaria. Mr. A. B. Meyer states that, with the exception of one from Posen, all the German examples were found to the west of the Elbe.

In appearance, nephrite, jadeite, and chloromelanite closely resemble each other, and, owing to considerable variations in the colour to which they are all more or less liable, it is difficult to distinguish them by the unaided eye. Generally speaking nephrite has a somewhat soapy feel, with a lighter and more transparent tint of green than jadeite, while chloromelanite is darker and less transparent than either. According to Meyer their specific gravity is:--nephrite 2·9 to 3·2, jadeite 3·3, and chloromelanite 3·4 to 3·6. From the large number of implements, especially hatchets, small chisels, and sometimes knives (=Fig. 185=, No. 28)--rarely arrow-points and ornaments--found in almost all the lake-dwelling stations of the Stone Age, it would appear that they were greatly admired and much sought after by the inhabitants of these settlements. Dr. Gross thinks they were in greatest abundance in those stations which flourished in the period immediately preceding that of the introduction of metals, and that after this event they disappear altogether. (B. 392, p. 10.)

From Lake Constance the number of jade implements now considerably exceeds 1,000, as may be verified by an inspection of the museums in the neighbourhood. One station alone, Maurach, has supplied 349 tolerably well, and 141 badly, made implements, and no less than 154 chips and sawn portions varying from the size of a finger-nail to a few inches. (B. 378, p. 78.) Similar chips have also been occasionally met with in other stations. This at once settles one important point, viz. that the lake-dwellers were in actual possession of the raw material, which they worked on the spot. Although most of the settlements in Lake Constance have yielded more or less specimens, there is none that even approaches Maurach in point of numbers, the next highest being Unter-Uhldingen, Immenstadt, and Sipplingen, from each of which two or three score have been collected. In moving eastwards towards the Danubian valley they become much rarer. Thus Schussenried has yielded only one (jadeite), Olzenreuthe seven (all nephrite), Starnbergersee two (nephrite), Laibach one (nephrite). Only one (jadeite) is recorded from the Mondsee, and none from the Attersee. According to Fischer[129] 97 per cent. of the implements from Lake Constance are of nephrite, while the other three per cent. are nearly equally divided between jadeite and chloromelanite. In the Zürich Museum he found 28 implements of nephrite, one of jadeite, and six of chloromelanite. Of the former, 22 are from Meilen and four from Robenhausen. Out of 295 in the museums of Berne (which came from the lakes of Neuchâtel, Bienne, Morat, Inkwyl, and Moosseedorfsee), 118 are of nephrite, 124 of jadeite, and 53 of chloromelanite. From these approximate calculations we see that while nephrite was greatly in excess of jadeite in the settlements of Lake Constance and its neighbourhood, this inequality becomes gradually removed as we move westwards, till we come to France, where their relative frequency becomes actually reversed. Chloromelanite, on the other hand, though as a whole much rarer than either nephrite or jadeite, seems to have been more evenly distributed. Roundly speaking, we have in all Europe between 300 and 400 worked objects of jadeite, and about 200 of chloromelanite, while those of nephrite amount to twice these numbers combined.

These facts are very suggestive, and undoubtedly give some support to the theory that these minerals were found by the lake-dwellers somewhere in their own neighbourhood. But notwithstanding the most careful searching on the part of geologists and mineralogists not a particle of any of them has yet been found _in situ_ in any part of Switzerland. As an inducement to country people to be on the look-out a reward of 200 francs was offered a few years ago[130] to anyone who could produce a bit of nephrite, found _in situ_, of the size of a man's fist, but as far as I know, the reward still lies unclaimed.

Three isolated portions have been found in Germany, one in the alluvial sands of Potsdam, another in the vicinity of Meersburg, and a third in the vicinity of Leipzig.[131] Also in somewhat similar circumstances two portions have been recorded from Styria.[132] It is said to have been found _in situ_ in small quantities in the rocks of Silesia, as recorded by H. Traube, of Breslau, in an article entitled "Über den Nephrit von Jordansmühl in Schlesien."[133] Mr. Roediger directs attention (by a note in _Antiqua_, 1884, p. 150) to the fact that it was stated to have been found in the Canton Freiburg, in a work published in 1834. A few chips were found in the prehistoric caves at Mentone associated with worked flints.[134]

To these remarks on the jade question I have only to add that Dr. Arzruni[135] maintains that the nephrite and jadeite of the lake-dwellings can be microscopically shown to differ from the Asiatic mineral. It may also be interesting to note that 13 small axes or chisels of jade were found by Schliemann in the prehistoric cities of Troy (_Ilios_, p. 240).

As to the huts or cottages in which the lake-dwellers lived the evidence is still somewhat scanty. For a long time the only indications that huts were erected over the platforms consisted of portions of clay having the impressions of round timber (=Fig. 184=, No. 2), hearth-stones, and some stray beams and bits of thatching. Recently, however, more definite information has been brought forward by Mr. Frank, the investigator of the lake-dwelling at Schussenried. This settlement had none of the signs of having been destroyed by fire, and it is supposed that its inhabitants voluntarily abandoned it on account of the growth of the surrounding peat. In this case it is probable that the huts would be allowed to fall into natural decay, but before this happened there was a chance that some part of the buildings would become overtaken by the moss, and so become, as it were, hermetically sealed up. That something like this actually occurred is now proved by the discovery at this station of the foundations and portions of the walls of a cottage deeply buried in the moss. Upon the discovery being known Mr. Frank had the ruins at once uncovered, and before the crumbling materials disappeared there was a plan of the building taken, which by the courtesy of the investigator I had an opportunity of inspecting. The structure was of an oblong rectangular form, about 33 feet long and 23 feet wide, and was divided by a partition into two chambers. On the south side there was a door, a little over 3 feet wide, which opened into one of the chambers. The other, or inner chamber, was somewhat larger, and had no communication with the outside, except through the former by means of a door in the partition. There were no relics found in these chambers, but in the outer there was a mass of stones which showed signs of having been a fire-place. The walls were constructed of split stems set upright and their crevices plastered over with clay. The flooring in both chambers was composed of four layers of closely laid timbers separated by as many layers of clay. These repeated floorings may have been necessitated by the gradual rise of the surrounding peat which ultimately drove the inhabitants away.

Mr. Messikommer (B. 406c) in the course of his investigations at Robenhausen found, over an area of 33 yards long and 10 broad, indications of what he considered to be four separate dwellings. From a study of the peculiar grouping and distribution of the industrial remains over this area he came to the conclusion that each cottage had its own special furniture, a hearth, weaving appliances, a millstone, sharpening-stones, etc., and on this principle he determines the size of the huts. From these calculations the size of the Robenhausen cottages would be almost identical with that at Schussenried, each having an area of about 750 square feet. From observations made at Irgenhausen similar results were obtained. At Niederweil, where the limits of contiguous dwellings were clearly definable, the area assigned to each was found to be somewhat less.

Swiss archæologists pretend to see, in the remains of their lacustrine villages of the Stone Age, evidence of three distinct periods, which are thus formulated by Dr. Gross:--

"Les fouilles que j'ai faites, depuis une dizaine d'années, dans les villages lacustres de l'âge de la pierre, m'ont prouvé qu'ils n'ont pas tous été habités à la même époque, mais qu'ils remontent à trois périodes différentes bien caractérisées.

"Dans la _première période_, je range les stations les plus anciennes, représentées, dans le lac de Bienne, par la palafitte de Chavannes (Tschaffis), près de Neuveville. Les produits de l'industrie humaine trouvés sur ces emplacements, dénotent un art tout-à-fait primitif; les haches de pierre sont petites, à peine polies et presques toutes en minéral indigène; les haches-marteaux n'apparaissent que sous forme de grossières ébauches, et les outils en corne et en os sont mal travaillés. On ne remarque aucune trace d'ornementation, ni sur les armes et les instruments, ni sur les produits de la céramique. La poterie, du reste, est façonnée d'une argile grossière, sans l'aide du tour naturellemente, et revêt des formes qui trahissent l'enfance de l'art du potier.

"La _seconde période_, à la quelle appartient l'ancienne station de Locras, celle de Latrigen et en général la plus grande partie de nos établissements de l'âge de la pierre, présente déjà un notable progrès sur la précédente, en ce que les armes et les outils sont perfectionnés, les haches en pierre, quelquefois perforées pour recevoir le manche, sont fort bien travaillées, polies avec soin et revêtent parfois des dimensions colossales. On constate aussi dans ces stations une abondance relative de hachettes en néphrite, jadéïte et chloromélanite. En effet, tandis que ces objets en minéral étranger font presque entièrement défaut pendant la première et la troisième période, on les rencontré dans les stations qui nous occupent dans une proportion qui peut varier du 5 au 8% des haches en minéral indigène.

"Le métal n'apparaît pas encore dans cette période, ou du moins pas dans la couche archéologique; exceptionnellement, on trouve, ici et là, entre les pilotis, quelques lamelles de cuivre, et plus rarement de bronze.

"La poterie, faite d'une pâte plus fine et mieux façonnée, présente quelques traces d'ornementation sous forme d'éminences percées et de dents de loup.

"Enfin la _troisième période_ comprend les stations de l'époque de transition de la pierre au bronze. C'est _l'époque du cuivre_, si je puis l'appeler ainsi, caractérisée par la présence dans la couche archéologique même, d'armes et d'instruments de cuivre pur (très-rarement de bronze), de haches-marteaux habilement perforées, d'outils de bois et de corne très bien façonnés, et surtout de vases de formes variées, quelques-uns munis d'anses et la plupart ornés de dessins faits avec les doigts ou au moyen de ficelle imprimée dans l'argile encore molle. Comme je l'ai déjà fait remarquer plus haut, les haches en néphrite et jadéïte sont devenues plus rares et font même presque entièrement défaut." (B. 392, p. 2.)

It will be remembered that a similar subdivision of the Stone Age was adopted by M. Borel in his essay on the lacustrine stations along the Bevaix shore. (See page 49.) In my opinion there are no archæological grounds for such a classification; but I retain its nomenclature as a matter of convenience, especially the term "Transition" period. The inhabitants of Schaffis (referred to by Dr. Gross, and acknowledged to be one of the oldest stations in Switzerland), knew and practised the art of boring and sawing stones; they possessed implements of nephrite and jadeite (=Fig. 185=, No. 29), and in the manufacture of the usual flint implements they were, according to Dr. v. Fellenberg, pre-eminent. In the assortment of objects from this station in the Cantonal Museum at Berne are to be seen some fantastically-shaped and perforated clubs of horn and bone, a large needle, and five peculiar objects of horn, similar to those found on so many of the stations of the period of transition as Sutz, Gerlafingen, etc. (Nos. 26 and 27), pieces of cloth, flax combs, a variety of clay weights, stone axe-hammers in all stages of manufacture, well-shaped daggers of flint and bone, flint saws in their wooden handles. On this station Dr. Gross also describes the finding of portions of a ladder; and Dr. Keller (B. 336, p. 48) part of a door or window containing a long bolt (No. 25). It is true that the specimens of pottery are coarse and devoid of ornamentation; but this might have been due to social causes rather than a deficiency of knowledge, as we find that in some of the other early stations, as for example Schussenried, the pottery is highly ornamented. In the struggle for existence the original founders of the lake-dwellings, surrounded by fierce aborigines and wild animals, had to pay more attention to the mere necessaries of life than to art. With the progress of time there are indications of considerable prosperity and a corresponding advancement in culture, but nothing worthy of being characterised as a separate period till the introduction of bronze, which, by facilitating all mechanical and industrial operations, produced a social revolution. But this change was only by degrees, and the overlap of the Stone and Bronze Ages is appropriately designated the period of transition. However long or short the lake-dwellers existed in the pure Stone Age (in regard to which there is not much evidence), one thing is clear, that during all that time the essential elements of their culture and civilisation underwent little or no change.

II.--TRANSITION PERIOD.

Before proceeding to describe the changes brought about in the social economy of the lake-dwellers by the introduction of the metals, there is an important problem that demands a few passing remarks, viz. the evidence as to the existence of a Copper Age in Europe. The theory of those who advocate the affirmative of this problem, among whom are notably Professor v. Pulszky, of Buda-Pesth, and Dr. Much, of Vienna, is that the prehistoric people of Europe became first acquainted with the art of extracting copper from its ore, which they fashioned both by smelting and hammering into various kinds of weapons, implements, and ornaments. In the first instance these were mere imitations of objects previously in use. Thus the flat axe or celt, almost the only form ever found in copper in Europe (except Hungary), was clearly formed on the model of the stone implements previously in use. Daggers and spear-heads are also imitations of their flint prototypes, as may be strikingly seen by a comparison of =Fig. 7=, No. 11, with =Fig. 8=, No. 2, the former being flint, and the latter copper.

As the very strongest arguments in support of a Copper Age are derived from the number and variety of objects of pure copper that have come to light through lake-dwelling researches, I will endeavour, as briefly as possible, to point out their general bearing on this problem. We have already seen that in many instances celts, daggers, beads, and other objects of copper were found on various stations, but almost invariably associated with bronze objects, as was the case, for example, at Wollishofen. There can hardly be any doubt that the transition from Stone to the most flourishing period of the Bronze Age took place during the occupation of this lacustrine settlement, but to infer that its copper objects were the products of a Copper Age would manifestly be overstepping the limits of a legitimate conclusion. From these long-lived settlements, with their promiscuous contents, we must turn to those which have come, as it were, to a premature end, just shortly after the first metal objects began to be used, but before the full development of the Bronze Age. From such stations in the lake-dwelling area I select the following seven as the most interesting, viz.:--Polada, Laibach, Mondsee, Robenhausen, Locras, Vinelz, and St. Blaise. In the following table I have tabulated all the metal objects that I can find on record, or deposited in local collections, as coming from these stations.

+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| Name of | | | |
| Station. | Copper. | Bronze. | References. |
+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| Polada | ---- |1 dagger, 3 flat |Dr. Rambotti's |
| | | celts | Collection, |
| | | | Desenzano, |
| | | | Fig. 67 |
+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| Laibach |1 flat celt, 6 |1 winged celt, 3 | Fig. 45; B. 302 |
| (crucibles)| daggers and | pins, 2 swords, | and 317 |
| | cutting blades, | 1 ornamented | |
| | 5 awls, | dagger, 2 plain | |
| | 1 fragment | do., 2 bracelets| |
+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| Mondsee |14 flat celts, |1 portion of | Fig. 39; Much: |
| (crucibles,| 6 daggers, 3 | dagger, 1 | Kupferzeit in |
| Fig. 184, | spirals, 3 awls,| hair-pin | Europa |
| No. 3) | 1 fish-hook, | | |
| | 2 fragments | | |
+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+
|Robenhausen |1 flat celt |1 flat celt | Fig. 24 |
| (crucibles)| | | |
+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| Locras |4 daggers, 2 |1 flat-handed | Fig. 186, No. 1;|
| | awls, 1 double | sword, 1 dagger,| B. 336, p. 33; |
| | celt (No. 10, | 2 hair-pins | Matériaux, |
| | Fig. 186), | | vols. xiv. and |
| | 1 bead | | xv.; Antiqua, |
| | | | 1885, p. 106 |
+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| Vinelz |49 beads (45 of | ---- | Fig. 7 |
| | which are in | | Antiqua, 1885, |
| | Bern and 4 in | | p. 107; B. 462, |
| | Gross Coll.), 9 | | Pl. xv. and xvi.|
| | daggers, 6 awls,| | |
| | 1 flat celt, | | |
| | 8 pendants, 1 | | |
| | spiral, 1 tube, | | |
| | 3 punches, 1 | | |
| | hair-pin, 1 | | |
| | chisel | | |
+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| St. Blaise |5 daggers, 2 |1 dagger with | Fig. 8; |
| (crucibles)| portions of | mid-rib. | Antiqua, 1883, |
| | flat celts, 3 | Anzeiger, 1882, | p. 61; Ibid., |
| | knives, 3 beads,| Pl. xix. 3 | 1884, pp. 59 |
| | 4 arrow-points, | | and 60; Ibid., |
| | 2 earrings, | | 1885, pp. 10, |
| | 1 spiral | | 108; and |
| | | | Ibid., 1886, |
| | | | p. 13 |
+------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+

The total number of copper objects tabulated by Mr. Forrer, in his carefully prepared "Statistick der in der Schweiz gefundenen Kupfergeräthe,"[136] amounts to 250. Of these, 107 are beads or ornaments, and of the remaining number, 37 are flat celts--the rest being chisels, knives, daggers, hammers, etc. The copper finds on the other stations, except the seven here mentioned, may be dispensed with as weakening rather than strengthening the evidence for a separate Copper Age, because there was a preponderance of bronze objects associated with them, as was the case, for example, at Lattringen and Gerlafingen.

Looking now at our seven selected stations we see, from the general character of the relics with which the metal objects were associated, that they belonged essentially to the Stone Age; and it would appear as if the use of the metals had not been sufficiently long known to alter their prevailing character. Now it will be observed that in all these seven stations, except one, viz. Vinelz, objects of bronze were also found associated with those of copper. On the other hand, Polada has yielded only a few bronze weapons, and yet there can be no doubt that this station existed during the earliest Transition period. Nor is it in this respect singular, as at Ober-Meilen there were two objects of bronze, viz. a flat celt and a bracelet, associated with relics of the Stone Age, but none of copper. Also in the transition station at Morges (Roseaux) there were no less than 18 bronze celts of the same type, together with a few other objects of this material, but none of copper. On the supposition that a Copper Age prevailed for any length of time as a preliminary to that of Bronze, it would follow that the station at Vinelz was earlier than the others. The character of its relics does not, however, bear this interpretation, as the perforated hatchets and other relics are more numerous and more elegant than anywhere else, and some of its pottery is highly ornamented and in some respects resembles that of the Bronze Age. The arrow-points and daggers of flint are exceedingly well formed, and among a variety of types of the former there are some with recurved barbs. Also this station is rich in cloth, nets, thread, bone buttons, etc., and corresponds in every respect with that of Locras, on which a sword and a dagger of bronze were found along with a few copper implements. The mere absence of bronze in Vinelz is not a sufficient reason, _per se_, to suppose that it existed in a pure Copper Age without a knowledge of bronze. All the copper objects from the other stations bear the same evidence of primitive workmanship as those from it.

On the other hand, the earliest bronze objects, wherever found, such as the swords and daggers, etc., from Locras, Polada, and Laibach, show a totally different and a much higher style of manufacture; but yet there is not even presumptive evidence in favour of the idea that they represent a later date than the crude copper tools and weapons of Vinelz. The contemporaneity of more or fewer bronze objects in the six other stations of the Transition period above named entirely outweighs the exceptional evidence of this one. Admitting that these copper objects were fabricated by the lake-dwellers, a supposition which is rendered highly probable by the finding of so many crucibles at Robenhausen, Mondsee, Laibach, and other places, we must also admit that their fabricators were somehow acquainted with the superior qualities of bronze implements. Consequently the manufacture of these inferior articles must be explained on some other grounds than the supposition of a Copper Age, in the sense that it preceded and gradually developed into that of Bronze. I fancy the true explanation is that the lake-dwellers became first acquainted with metal instruments in the form of imported bronze objects, especially swords and daggers, and that this suggested to them, and directly led to, the discovery of the art of reducing the pure metal from the copper ore. Local or peripatetic coppersmiths, in trying to imitate these imported implements, went on manufacturing copper objects until they learned the art of hardening it by the proper admixture of tin. This knowledge might have been originally kept a great secret. But, however this may be, it is certain that the secret was not long kept, as we soon find the lake-dwellers in full possession of the art of manufacturing all manner of bronze objects. Ignorance of the nature of the alloy or perhaps the scarcity or dearness of tin, leading to wilful deception on the part of the fabricators, may partly account for the production of some of these copper implements. It has also been suggested that the repeated melting of bronze causes the tin to disappear, and that in this way copper objects may have come about. But this explanation is inapplicable to those from the lake-dwellings, as they are all of the most primitive type, and were undoubtedly manufactured during the initiatory stages of the metallurgic art.

III.--BRONZE AGE.

The art of manufacturing cutting implements of bronze, when once known, must have come quickly into general use, owing to their vast superiority over those in previous use, whether of stone or copper. Not only was there a great impulse given to the ordinary affairs of life, but actually new industries must have been developed. In lieu of the primitive weapons and tools previously in use, we have now a splendid array of swords, daggers, lances, axes, knives, rasors, chisels, gouges, sickles, etc. The simple dagger of bone or flint, which could only be used by a thrusting blow, became not only more specialised and a more powerful weapon, but developed into a new weapon--the double-edged sword. The first form of this weapon which found its way to the lake-dwellers appears to have been that with a flat handle (=Fig. 186=, Nos. 1, 7, and 9), with a series of rivet holes for attaching plates of bone or wood, so as to give a better grip to the wielder. Subsequently the handle was cast separately of solid bronze, and the blade was then attached to it by means of rivets. One of the most elegant of these forms was that terminating at the hilt in a couple of spirals, several examples of which are illustrated on =Figs. 11=, =19=, and =186=. From Moeringen there is a very rare sword of this type, but portion of the handle is broken off. The blade is of iron and the handle of bronze ornamented with encrusted bands of iron (=Fig. 186=, No. 6).

Such sharp-edged weapons entailed the necessity of caution when carried about the person, and accordingly sheaths were used, probably in the first place made of wood and tipped with bronze. Objects supposed to be these tips have been found at various places, as Moeringen, Auvernier, Champreveyères, Luissel (=Fig. 19=, No. 4), Bourget, etc. (=Fig. 21=, No. 20).

While daggers were riveted to handles of solid bronze, horn, or other materials (=Fig. 186=, No. 8), a form which they retained during the whole Bronze Age, lance-heads were from the earliest times made with sockets. Arrow-points were subject to greater variations, as we find them tanged, socketed, or merely triangularly-shaped flat pieces. The latter had generally two or four small holes by means of which they were fastened to the stem by a wire or thread (=Fig. 21=, Nos. 22 to 26). Hatchets display a series of evolutionary improvements, the various stages of which can be readily traced. Thus the primitive stone form, which was alone adhered to in the few copper examples hitherto found, was also continued in bronze, and in this form the bronze axe spread largely over Europe. But it gradually gave way to that with flaps, or wings, with or without loops for fixing the instrument more firmly to its handle. Finally we have the socketed hatchet, which appears to have been considered the best form in use during the Bronze Age. It was only when iron superseded bronze in the use of cutting implements that the modern type, _i.e._ with a transverse hole for the handle, came into general use, although the principle was well known in previous ages, and, indeed, acted upon, as in the perforated stone hammers and axes. Bronze saws (=Fig. 6=, No. 7) appear to have been used to an extremely limited extent, as only some half-a-dozen examples have been found on the whole lake-dwelling area of Central Europe. Their rarity in comparison with the superabundance of flint saws in the Stone Age may be accounted for by the large number of sharp cutting instruments that were now prevalent, and which were better adapted for many of the purposes to which the saws were formerly put, such as the making of arrow-stems, wooden handles, etc. The ordinary knives of the palafittes are extremely elegant in form, the blade being always more or less curved, and frequently ornamented with parallel or wavy lines and running patterns of concentric circles and dots. They were generally hafted by means of a tang or socket, but sometimes the blade and handle were made in one solid casting. Numerous examples of all these different forms are given in our illustrations.

It is interesting to note that the socketed knives are very rare in Eastern Switzerland, not a single example being recorded from the great find at Wollishofen, while, as we move westward, they increase relatively, till in Lake Bourget they become the rule and not the exception.

The blades which go under the name of razors, though of diversified forms, may be divided into two kinds, according as they are single-or double-bladed. The former have a ridged back, which generally projects at one end, so as to become a short handle, often assuming the form of a terminal ring, as shown in =Fig. 20=, Nos. 22 and 23. One in the Gross collection has a handle of staghorn. The latter, or double-bladed, have the handle placed intermediately between the blades, and are common in the terremare and the palatfitte of Peschiera (=Fig. 63=), but they do not occur in Lake Bourget. The small pincers supposed to be for epilation, so common in La Tène and in Gallo-Roman times, appear to have come into use towards the close of the Bronze Age, as they are extremely rare in the palafittes of Central Switzerland, but more common in those of Lake Bourget. One is figured by Dr. Gross, from Moeringen, similar to the one here represented from Lake Bourget (=Fig. 20=, No. 24).

Sickles were also widely distributed over the lake-dwelling area of the Bronze Age, including the terremare. They are flat on the under side, but on the upper side they have two or more ridges running lengthways, the object of which was to strengthen the implement. By means of a raised knob, or rivet-hole, and sometimes a projecting spur, it was firmly fixed into a wooden handle, as seen in =Fig. 187=. That represented here was found at Moeringen, and is adroitly fashioned by hollows and rounding ridges, adapted for the right hand. That this was the normal condition of these handles is probable from the fact that other two similar objects were found at Corcelettes, which are now preserved in the Museum at Lausanne.

As regards hammers, chisels, gouges, punches, awls, needles, hooks, and spears for fishing, etc., it is unnecessary to add to the descriptive details already given, and their general characters are sufficiently patent from the illustrations.

In the category of objects used for the toilet and personal ornament we have a large assortment of new and fanciful forms, such as bracelets, pendants, necklaces, fibulæ, pins, combs, belt-clasps, finger-rings, buttons, studs, earrings, chains, as well as a few ornaments of gold, amber, and glass.

First in importance are the armlets or anklets, which greatly differ as regards size, form, and ornamentation (=Fig. 188=, etc.). They are closed or open. The former are solid or hollow rings, and either plain or ornamented with the usual geometrical figures of incised lines, circles, and dots variously combined. The open bracelets are more numerous, and have a wider range of style and pattern. Some consist of a stout wire, spirally grooved, in single or double ply (=Fig. 3=, No. 15), or a flat band with a terminal hook and eye for fastening when worn over the arm. Others are penannular, with flat expansions at each end, and the more massive are hollowed in the centre so as to reduce their weight. These latter are peculiar to the palafittes of Western Switzerland, having their greatest development in the lakes of Neuchâtel, Bienne, and Morat. They occur in Lake Bourget, but not to the same extent as the solid forms. Jet bracelets are rare, only one or two being recorded from the Swiss palafittes (=Fig. 11=, No. 14); but they are more numerous in Lake Bourget. One is of tin (=Fig. 188=, No. 3).

Pendants and such like ornaments affect so many different forms that it would be idle here to attempt to classify them. They have all one common element, viz. a perforation or ring at the top for suspension, and it is probable that many of them are merely individual parts of a compound ornament, like that found at Auvernier, and figured by Dr. Gross (B. 392, Pl. xxiii. 33), in which there are no less than fourteen different pendants hanging from a central wheel. But no doubt many of them, especially the larger forms, such as those found on the palafitte at Onens (=Fig. 189=, Nos. 1 to 3), must have been used as single decorations.

Necklaces formed by stringing together beads of various materials, such as that represented on =Fig. 11=, No. 1, were probably a common method of personal adornment; but of course they are seldom met with except as individual beads. Solid rings for the neck, or torques, are extremely rare, their entire number recorded from the lake-dwellings of the Bronze Age being less than half-a-dozen. They are all of one type, and similar to the two illustrations given in =Fig. 10=, No. 3, from Cortaillod, and =Fig. 63=, No. 19, from Peschiera.

Fibulæ were not quite so rare as the torques, and they appear to have been pretty equally distributed over the lake-dwelling area, both north and south of the Alps. Though well represented at Peschiera, their existence in the true terramara deposits is still a matter of contention among archæologists. From a glance at the various examples given in our illustrations (=Fig. 3=, No. 20; =Fig. 6=, Nos. 4, 9, and 10; =Fig. 12=, Nos. 4, 12, 14, and 26), etc., it will be seen that they occupy an intermediate place between the straight pin and the more highly developed and elaborate forms found among relics of later ages.

Pins are the most common objects among the industrial remains of the lake-dwellings, the total number found in the Swiss stations alone being approximately over 10,000. Their principal function was to adorn the hair, but no doubt some were used for other purposes, such as the fastening of garments, and so they took the place of the fibulæ. They are extremely varied in size and style of manufacture, being of all grades from an inch up to 30 inches in length, and from the simple unadorned stem with a mere knob for a head up to the highly decorated examples so numerously represented in our illustrations, such for example as those with massive heads in the form of a hollow globe (=Fig. 13=, No. 12), or cup (=Fig. 3=, No. 9), or expanded disc (=Fig. 10=, No. 24). Some had a loose ring for a head, to which in some instances bits of chains were attached (=Fig. 3=, No. 6). In Lake Bourget a few were found with flat wheel-shaped heads (=Fig. 189=, Nos. 4 and 5).

Bronze combs are fairly well represented both in the terremare and the lacustrine dwellings. They are almost invariably small, with a single or double row of teeth. Clasps for girdles like the one figured from Bourget (=Fig. 20=, No. 25) are in the Gross collection, as well as a few others of a slightly different form. Buttons, studs, chains, finger-rings of single or more coils, earrings, glass and amber beads are also so numerous and widely spread as to show that they were not merely exceptional objects among the lake-dwellers.

Several bronze dishes, not exceeding a dozen in all, have been found on several of the Swiss stations. They are in the form of small wide-mouthed cups of beaten bronze, with or without handles, and often ornamented with slightly raised knobs of repoussé work (=Fig. 10=, No. 20), or like small jars of cast bronze (=Fig. 3=, No. 22, and =Fig. 6=, No. 2). Fragments of larger dishes, like the Etruscan situlæ made of thin sheets riveted together, with massive handles also attached by rivets, have been found at Wollishofen (=Fig. 4=, Nos. 17 and 22).

Gold is only sparingly met with, and the objects are generally small or fragmentary. In this condition specimens of the precious metal are among the relics from Nidau, Moeringen (=Fig. 189=, No. 8), Auvernier, Concise, Cortaillod, Montilier, Wollishofen, and Lake Bourget, etc. A few objects are of tin, the most frequently met with being small wheels with four, five, or eight spokes, which are recorded from several stations, portion of a ring and a bracelet from Montilier (=Fig. 188=, No. 3), a small bar pierced with 16 holes from Corcelettes (=Fig. 189=, No. 12), and a pendant from Auvernier (No. 7), a small cross from Lake Garda (=Fig. 64=, No. 26), etc. Tin is also represented in small ingots and, as we shall afterwards more particularly notice, it was used to decorate the inside of various dishes of earthenware.

To these industrial objects, many of which had their prototypes in the Stone Age, we have to add a variety of appliances for carrying on the metallurgical art. Stone anvils gave place to bronze ones, and of these the most remarkable is that from Wollishofen (=Fig. 4=, No. 21). Moulds were generally made of sandstone or hardened clay, the former being the most numerous, and specimens may be seen in all the collections from the stations both north and south of the Alps. It will be recollected that the two valves of a mould for a winged celt made of bronze were found at Morges at a very early stage in lacustrine investigations (=Fig. 17=, No. 8). For many years this apparatus remained as a solitary and unique example of this kind of mould, but now three other valves, similar to those from Morges, have been found, one on each of the stations of Auvernier, Corcelettes, and Estavayer (=Fig. 9=, No. 22). Crucibles are abundantly represented. They are of various shapes and sizes, sometimes with a solid handle, as those from Rohenhausen and St. Blaise, and at other times with a short projection having a perforation through which a wooden stick could be inserted as a handle (=Fig. 184=, No. 3, and =Fig. 45=, No. 14). As further evidence that the founder practised his art _in situ_ we have various records of the finding of ingots of copper, tin, and lead; also slag, defective castings, scoriæ and refuse of smelting furnaces. In the Gross collection there is a circular cake of tin with a small ring for suspension similar to a leaden cake figured from Wollishofen (=Fig. 4=, No. 23). The huge mass of copper in the form of a double celt (=Fig. 186=, No. 10) was probably for the same end, and not intended as an implement at all.

In Dr. Evan's collection there is a remarkable bronze knife (=Fig. 190=) from Bourget, having the handle and blade made of one solid casting, which appears as if it had just been freshly extracted from the mould. It has evidently undergone no subsequent polish, and still retains a thin irregular rim all round, corresponding with the junction of the two halves of the stone mould.

It is not, however, to be supposed that I claim all the multifarious objects found in the _débris_ of the lake-dwellings as products of native art; on the contrary, I believe there are many objects, especially the more complicated and ornamental, which can be traced to foreign sources. But on the other hand the mere inspection of the extensive assortment of foundry materials, especially the variety of moulds which include swords (B. 282, Pl. liv. Fig 2, and B. 392, Pl. xxix. Fig. 11), daggers, spears, knives, sickles, all kinds of celts and chisels, bracelets, buckles, pins, rings, wheels, etc., leaves no doubt that the home industry in the manufacture of bronze was extensive and skilfully conducted. Indeed, the skill and ingenuity displayed in casting such a variety of objects can only excite our astonishment. How the series of involved and massive rings of cast bronze represented on =Fig. 10=, No. 1, was produced, is really a mystery. A model of such an object made of wax if embedded in soft clay, and subsequently hardened by exposure to heat so as to melt the wax and thus allow it to escape, might supply the founder with the requisite mould. But that this was the method adopted by the lacustrian founder is, of course, a mere conjecture.