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).
Fig. 186.—Bronze Weapons and Copper Celt.
Nos. 10 and 11 = 1⁄6, and all the rest = 1⁄3 real size.
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.
Fig. 187.—Wooden Handle
with Bronze Sickle (1⁄3).
The smaller figure shows
the manner of using
this implement.
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.
Fig. 188.—Bronze and Tin Bracelets. All 1⁄2 real size.
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.
Fig. 189.—Pendants, Ornaments, etc., of Bronze and Tin. Nos. 1 to 3, and 17 to 20 = 1⁄3, and the rest = 2⁄3 real size.
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.
Fig. 190.—Bronze Knife (1⁄3).
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.
Fig. 191.—Bridle-Bits, Horse Trappings, etc. All 1⁄3 real size.
That the horse was now domesticated and under the control of the lake-dwellers we have very circumstantial evidence in the discovery of bridle-bits, various ornaments for harness, and even a wheel and other mountings of a chariot or biga. For many years some curious and highly polished portions of horn from 4 to 7 inches in length, and perforated with three or more holes, one in the centre and the other at the extremities, were among the unexplained relics of the Bronze Age stations ([Fig. 191], Nos. 3 and 4). The holes in these objects had a worn appearance, and it was noticed that the direction of the central aperture was always at right angles to those at the extremities. Their use however, remained a complete puzzle till the year 1872, when a remarkably fine and well preserved horse-bit of bronze was discovered at Moeringen (No. 7). The similarity of these horn objects to the side pieces of the bronze bit led to the conjecture that they were the analogous parts of horse-bits made of horn. The subsequent discovery of several other bronze bits, all of the same type, gradually strengthened this opinion; but whatever doubt might remain as to their function is now dispelled by the discovery at Corcelettes, in 1888, of a complete specimen made of two tines of staghorn with a transverse mouthpiece of bone (No. 1). Of the bronze bridle-bits found up to this time only three are entire, but there are several isolated side and centre pieces from the stations of Nidau, Moeringen, Auvernier, Corcelettes, and Estavayer (Nos. 5, 6, and 9). It will be observed that all the examples here figured (which include the most diverse forms), though differing in some details, are of the same type. The only marked difference in the two entire specimens is that one (No. 7) has the mouthpiece divided in the middle, whereas the other (No. 8) is one solid piece. This latter was found at Corcelettes and is now in the Lausanne Museum. The third entire specimen, which was also found at Corcelettes, appears from its illustration (B. 462) to be identical with No. 8.
According to Dr. Gross, No. 7 was made in one casting, thus proving the perfection to which bronze working was carried. All these specimens of horse-bits, so far as can be judged from the breadth of the mouthpiece, indicate very small horses, No. 7 being 3½ inches between the side pieces, and No. 8 rather less than 4 inches.
The entire bridle-bit of horn is even still smaller, being only 2¾ inches wide. It is thus described by Dr. Brière (B. 461):—
"Cette intéressante pièce, en parfait état de conservation, se compose de 2 branches en bois de cerf, percées chacune de 3 trous evidées à la partie supérieure sur un profondeur de 3 centimètres et mesurant 18 centimètres de longeur, reliées entre' elles par la barre du mors qui est en os et mesure exactement 7 centimètres entre les 2 branches. Cette barre en os est creuse et pour assujettir la pièce aux branches, on a enfoncé de petits coins en corne de cerf pour combler le vide et pour la rendre solide."—Antiqua, 1888, p. 37.
Judging from the frequency with which the isolated side-pieces of bridle-bits made of horn have been found on almost all the bronze stations, no less than 12 being now preserved in the Munich Museum from Starnberg, and 14 in the Lausanne Museum from Corcelettes, the horse must have been common among the lake-dwellers. It will also be remembered that similar objects have been found in the terremare, and Dr. Carlo Boni thinks that a piece of rope was used instead of the stiff mouthpiece in the manner shown in No. 2.
There are various other objects which are supposed to have been used as ornaments for horse harness, such as the phaleræ or bronze discs, rings, knobs, etc. The former (Nos. 11 to 13) are often slightly convex on one side and decorated with circles or small knobs formed in repoussé work, and on the other side there is a small loop for fastening it. Several horn and bone discs, especially those from Starnberg ([Fig. 36], Nos. 24 and 30) suggest a similar usage.
Two curious bronze objects ([Fig. 191], No. 10) found on the eastern shore of Lake Neuchâtel, one at Chevroux and the other at Estavayer, together with portion of a hollow tube of a similar style of ornamentation, remained for a long time unexplained. However, coupled with the bronze wheel found at Cortaillod ([Fig. 10], No. 17) Dr. Keller showed that they were the handles and part of the top railing of an Etruscan biga or war chariot. (B. 336.)
The use of the long pins of brass with sword-like handles (Säbelnadeln) found on the stations of Wollishofen ([Fig. 4], Nos. 9 and 10), Grosser Hafner ([Fig. 2], No. 32), and the Grand City of Morges, is not yet sufficiently understood. In 1886 Major v. Tröltsch,[137] in a note to the Society of Anthropology in Berlin, directed attention to the fact that an object of the same kind was preserved in the Museum at Donaueschingen, which had been found in a Burgwall (Lagerplatz) on the Hohenhöwen, "einem der vulkanischen Bergkegel des Hegau's bei Singen." The object thus described by Major v. Tröltsch is precisely similar to that here figured from the Grosser Hafner ([Fig. 2], No. 32). Its total length is 16½ inches, of which the pin takes up 13 inches and the terminal ring 1⅜ inch. The stem presents a square section, and in this respect it agrees with the examples found at Zürich and Morges. Subsequently Dr. L. v. Rau,[138] Mr. R Forrer,[139] and Mr. Heierli[140] contributed to the Society some further notes on these singular implements, but without coming to any agreement as to their function.
Fig. 192.—Bronze Mirror
from Port Alban (1⁄3).
In addition to these bronze relics so numerously described and illustrated in the previous pages, there are many objects which cannot be classified under any of the previous headings, as their use is unknown. Fragments of small hollow globes are supposed to have been used as children's rattles. Examples of these have been found at Moeringen made of pottery, two of which, now in the Museum at Berne, are still perfect ([Fig. 193], No. 9). Both objects are ornamented, and contain inside a piece of hardened clay which, when shaken, makes a jingling noise. In the Museum at Zürich there is, also from Moeringen, a small pendant like a bell now used on horse harness ([Fig. 189], No. 17). Dr. Gross (B. 392, p. 75) describes a similar object found at Auvernier ([Fig. 189], No. 18) as a perfume-box (cassolette). Among the more recent finds is the object represented on [Fig. 192], which is supposed to be part of a mirror similar to those so frequently met with among Etruscan and Roman remains. (B. 420, p. 167.) We have already observed that on several of the Scottish crannogs there were found some thin stones, highly polished and circular or square, which are supposed to have been used for the same purpose. These stones, when moistened with water and looked at in certain conditions as regards light, are by no means a bad substitute for the more perfect reflecting mirrors of the present day.
These great innovations following in the wake of the metals could hardly fail to influence such a plastic art as that of the potter. Accordingly we find a better quality of paste, greater variety and elegance of form, and some approach to systematic decoration. There is one new form quite characteristic of this age which, were it not for the extreme elegance and harmony of all its parts, one would suppose indicated a retrograde movement. This was a small water-bottle-shaped vase, which, having a conical base, could not be made to sit upright upon a flat surface without some kind of support. This support is supposed to be a clay ring ([Fig. 2], Nos. 2, 5, and 31), great numbers of which have been found in the Bronze Age stations. Ultimately colouring materials were introduced which considerably enhanced the effect of ornamentation on the dishes. Besides systematic patterns of recurring geometrical figures formed by lines in the soft clay, we sometimes find similar patterns traced on the surface of the vessels by means of thin strips of tin-foil made to adhere by means of a kind of gum or asphalt. The vessels thus manipulated were of extremely elegant forms, and made of a fine paste with a smooth black surface. This custom was particularly prevalent in Lake Bourget, but specimens have been found in some of the other lakes, as at Nidau, Hauterive, Cortaillod, Montilier, Estavayer, etc., but it is extremely rare in Eastern Switzerland. On [Fig. 193] I have shown a few additional specimens of pottery. No. 1 is the quarter of a dish shaped like a milk plate having a small flat base. It is perforated with groups of holes arranged systematically as shown in the illustration, and the inside is ornamented with a few incised circles. This dish, or rather percolator, was found in Lake Bourget, and formed part of Mr. Rabut's collection now in the British Museum. Another percolator, of similar shape and size, differently ornamented, and having a slight variation in the disposition of the grouped perforations, was found at Montilier, and is figured by Keller. (B. 126, Pl. v. 26.) No. 2 represents the quarter of a dish of the same form as the above, but without perforations. Its interior is adorned with strips of tin-foil (here represented in white) producing a wonderfully complicated design. This dish was found at Cortaillod, and is now in the Schwab Museum, along with an extremely handsome wide-mouthed vase, also from Cortaillod, the outside of which is similarly ornamented. In the latter case the upper part of the vessel is surrounded by small panels all having different designs made of circles, lines, and crosses. (See B. 126, Pl. xvi. 1.) No. 6 is a vase with conical base, from Hauterive, also adorned in the same fashion. In looking at these vessels ornamented with tin it is difficult to make out the designs, as the tin is now even blacker than the pottery. Hence, in Nos. 4 and 5, both of which are from Lake Bourget, the tin is represented by the dark lines. No. 3 represents a fragment of pottery, now preserved in the Museum at Aix-les-Bains, which shows how a broken dish had been mended by passing two or three plies of a tough grass or rush through a perforation on each side of the crack. After the fragments were thus brought together one of the rushes was twisted in a spiral manner round the others, evidently for protecting them from wear and tear. The remaining Nos. (7 to 10) illustrate some toy dishes and children's playthings from Moeringen and Auvernier.
Fig. 193.—Specimens of Pottery of the Bronze Age. Nos. 1 and 2 = 1⁄4, and the rest = 1⁄2 real size.
The spindle-whorls of the Bronze Age are generally made of earthenware, and often highly ornamented, thus showing the improved taste of the people.
Among the more notable objects peculiar to the Bronze Age are certain polished stones, in the form of circular or oval discs with a marginal groove ([Fig. 194]). These stones were formerly reckoned to be sling-stones, but now they are generally recognised as potters' implements, used probably for fashioning the bases of the dishes.
Fig. 194.—
Discoidal
Stone (1⁄3).
There are many problems worthy of careful consideration suggested by the facts disclosed in these pages, but in this rapid sketch I can only refer to one or two in a cursory manner. First of all we have to inquire if the lake-dwellers practised religious rites. In support of the affirmative to this inquiry there are some indications, and the few objects capable of such an interpretation are illustrated on [Fig. 195]. In this category I include the following:—
(1) The highly ornamented wooden sticks or bâtons de commandement, from Castione (Nos. 1 and 2), and from Moeringen (No. 3). The only perfect example (No. 1) is rather less than sixteen inches in length, and the others do not appear to have been larger.
(2) The four remarkable bronze tubes with ring appendages from Lake Bourget (Gresine). These, though differing in size and some other respects, are all of one type, and were clearly conceived and wrought out on a uniform plan, and for some specific purpose. The most perfect of these objects ([see page 102]) appears to be complete, and consists of an ornamental tube, surrounded by three rows of fixed loops, three in each row, placed at regular distances, and to each loop there are three loose rings appended, as shown in the illustration (No. 4). The two previously illustrated ([Fig. 21], Nos. 1 and 2) have only one ring in each of the nine loops, and it does not appear that there had been any more. The fourth, now preserved in the Museum at Chambery, is nearly as large as the perfect one; but it is greatly worn, and retains now only a few rings, some of the loops being broken or worn through. It is illustrated by Perrin. (B. 282, Pl. lxiv. 1.)
(3) The ornamental reniform rings (Schwurring) from Morges and Thonon ([Fig. 17], Nos. 2 and 3), could not have been used as bracelets, and Dr. Forel suggests that they are analogous to the armilla sacra on which the ancient Germans were wont to place their hands when about to swear a solemn oath. (B. 286, p. 46.)
Fig. 195.—Objects suggestive of Religious Ideas. Nos. 4, 9 to 13, 15 and 16 = 1⁄2; 1 to 3, 5 to 8, 14 and 19 = 1⁄4; and 17 and 18 = 1⁄8 real size.
In the Museum at Brunswick, in Germany, I noticed three of these rings, one of which is almost identical with the one from Morges, differing from it only in the details of the ornamentation; but of their history and origin nothing seems to have been known. Another is in the Museo Civico, at Turin, as well as a large circular ring like that from the lacustrine station at Wollishofen ([Fig. 188], No. 2), both of which have been figured by Gastaldi. (B. 294, Pl. xii.) I believe it more probable that these large circular rings, though generally considered to be bracelets, were used for the same purpose as the reniform rings. Among the objects in the prehistoric and Roman collection of antiquities in St. Ulric, at Regensberg (Ratisbon), there is a large hollow ring of bronze, ornamented with three lines of concentric circles, which measures six inches in external and three inches in internal diameter, thus leaving one and a half inch for the thickness of the ring. It was found, along with several other things, in a pre-Roman grave (Hügel-grab) near Velburg.
(4) The clay images of animals found on several stations in different parts of the lake-dwelling area, as well as those of the terremare ([Fig. 84], Nos. 23 and 24), and more especially the human images from Laibach, are probably idols. On [Fig. 195], along with four clay figures from the lakes of Neuchâtel and Bourget (Nos. 9, 10, 13, and 14), I represent two of bronze (Nos. 15 and 16), which I noticed in a collection from Bodmann, in the Steinhaus Museum, at Überlingen. One of these was evidently used as a pendant, and the other appears to have been intended for a human being. The clay figures from Laibach (Nos. 5 to 8), though fragmentary, are undoubtedly representations of the human body. Nos. 5 and 6 represent the back and front view of the trunk of a female, while No. 7 shows a human body with a prominent nose. These two figures are hollow in the interior, and richly ornamented exteriorly with designs which are supposed to be imitations of embroidered garments. Another of these human figures from Laibach, as well as the image of a small animal, is represented on [Fig. 42], Nos. 11, 23 and 24.
The extraordinary number of implements and chips of nephrite found at Maurach, and the equal predominance of flint refuse and implements in all stages of manufacture at some of the other stations, as Wallhausen, Nussdorf, etc., suggest the idea that the various industries prosecuted by the inhabitants of the lake-villages had already developed to such an extent as to become localised in certain centres. Again, the localisation of certain industries, as comestibles in one place, flax in its various preparatory stages in another, the complete kit of foundry tools in a third, etc., all point to the knowledge and practice of the principles of the division of labour.
That the lake-dwellers kept up commercial relations with foreign countries is proved by their possessing materials, not only peculiar to distant or limited areas, such as amber, jade, flint, etc., but also certain objects having such peculiarities in form or style of ornamentation as have enabled experienced archæologists to trace them to their original areas of evolution. Thus at Corcelettes were found an ornamental bronze dish, and portion of a fibula ([Fig. 189], Nos. 19 and 20), which, when seen by Montelius in the Museum at Lausanne, were at once recognised by him as of northern origin. (B. 348.) Dr. Keller has also shown, as already stated, that certain bronze objects found in the Lake of Neuchâtel, which for a long time remained a puzzle to archæologists, belonged to an Etruscan carriage or biga. The few fibulæ found in the Swiss lake-dwellings have also been traced to their native habitats in Northern Italy.[141] The half-moon-shaped flint knives, so characteristic of Scandinavia and Northern Germany, have been found as far south as the Mondsee, and one solitary representative ([Fig. 34], No. 20), now in the Museum of Natural History at Stuttgart, is said to have come from Schussenried station.
One notable fact about the distribution of lake-dwellings is that their relics conform in style, ornamentation, and general characteristics, to contemporary antiquities in the surrounding districts; and I find no special characters in their industrial remains that bind the lake-dwellers together as one clannish people. The relics from the lake-dwellings of the Stone Age in Northern Germany are readily seen to be closely related with those of the Scandinavian archæological area. Whatever the original resemblances and points of agreement of the founders may have been, they were soon modified and adapted to the physical conditions and requirements of their environments.
That continued attention was paid to the rearing and breeding of domesticated animals during the Bronze Age is attested by their osseous remains, which have been critically examined by such competent authorities as Rütimeyer (B. 42), Studer (B. 404), Uhlmann (B. 336), and others. While the lake-dwellers of the earlier Stone Age had only as domestic animals one small species of dog, a small ox, a horned sheep, and the goat, we find that towards the end of this period and during the succeeding Bronze Age not only new and large breeds were developed, but another was added to the list, viz. the horse. From the remains of the domestic horse found at Moeringen and elsewhere it appears to have been a small and slender-limbed animal with small hoofs, and altogether much inferior to the wild horse as hunted and eaten by the cave men of palæolithic times, from which it is supposed to have been a direct descendant. When the Aar canal was being excavated the bones of the smaller or domestic horse were found associated with bronze objects in no less than nine different localities, all of which agree with the above characteristics. (B. 404.) The horse of the terremare, according to Professor Strobel, presents the same characters as that of the Swiss lake-dwellings, and as we have already seen from the bridle-bits and other horse trappings, there can be no doubt it was also in a state of domestication. I may also mention that a skull found at Auvernier was believed by Rütimeyer, after most careful deliberation, to be that of the ass. Professor Strobel has also recognised the osseous remains of the ass in the terremare. (B. 389b.) The sheep diverged considerably from its earlier form, and lost much of its goat-like appearance, being now larger, and developed into various breeds. Still more varied were the breeds of cattle, especially in the vicinity of the lakes of Bienne and Neuchâtel. The Bos primigenius appears to have been tamed and crossed with the earlier type, giving rise to a variety of breeds, such as trococeros and frontosus, one of which had wide branching horns, as is proved from its remains found at Concise, Chevroux, Locras, etc. The small dog of the Stone Age (Canis domesticus palustris, Rüt.) gave place to a much larger kind, somewhat resembling our modern greyhound. The domestic pig also appears to have passed through various evolutionary phases; but the wild boar still retained its individuality intact. Dr. Uhlmann in his report on the osseous remains from the Grosser Hafner, at Zürich (B. 336), describes three varieties of the pig, as well as three of cattle.
With the exception of the domestic fowl and the tame cat, the domestic animals reared by the lake-dwellers were similar to those now extant. Nor is there much change as regards the wild animals and birds then prevalent. The animals that now frequent the higher Alps, such as the marmot, chamois, and wild goat, are very scarce in the lake-dwellings, showing that already nature had consigned them to the zone of their present habitation. Altogether, with the more improved weapons of the Bronze Age, there ensued, according to Rütimeyer, a marked diminution in the relative proportion of the ordinary wild animals of the chase, and a corresponding increase in those of the domestic breeds. The great wild oxen, the urus and bison, disappeared from the neighbourhood altogether.
Such progressive strides in agricultural pursuits are, however, not discernible in the vegetable remains, notwithstanding the minute investigations of Professor Heer. (B. 123.) From the very commencement the lake-dwelling colonists cultivated flax, two or three varieties of barley and wheat, millet and peas. The only addition that appears to have been made in the Bronze Age were the oat (Avena sativa), and the dwarf field bean (Faba vulgaris) of a strikingly small size. On the other hand we have to note the absence of winter wheat, rye, hemp, and most of the culinary and garden vegetables. Fruits and berries were largely used as food, but there is no evidence to show that they were cultivated. Among these the following have been identified:—apples, pears, plums, sloes, one or two species of cherry, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries, hazel and beech nuts, water-chestnuts, poppies, etc. Grape-stones from Wangen were hesitatingly included in Professor Heer's list of fruits from the lake-dwellings; but, as already mentioned, this doubt is now diminished by the finding of grape-stones at Steckborn, another station of the Stone Age. Stones of the grape were early recognised among the débris of the palafittes of Lake Garda, and quite recently Mr. A. Goiran has identified those of the olive (Oleo europæa) and peach.[142]
Bread was made only of wheat and millet, that of the latter generally containing some grains of wheat and linseed. Cakes made of the seeds of the poppy were also found at Robenhausen.
Various portions of the osseous remains of man, comprising the skull and other portions of the skeleton, have been found in several stations, as Meilen, Wollishofen, Grosser Hafner, Schaffis, Sutz, Locras, Vinelz, Nidau, Wauwyl, Bevaix, Insel Weerd, etc. All these remains have been more or less critically examined and reported on by Virchow (B. 305 and 433), Studer (B. 419 and 432), and Kollmann (B. 420), but notwithstanding a number of minute measurements and learned disquisitions, contradictory opinions are held by these scientists as to the race or races of men that inhabited the lake-dwellings. Dr. Studer advocates the theory of Troyon, that with the introduction of bronze there was also a new race of people, and this opinion he bases on the fact that at Sutz and Vinelz two kinds of human skulls were found, viz. brachycephalic and dolichocephalic, whereas in the pure Stone Age stations only brachycephalic skulls were met with. Segments of the upper parts of human skulls supposed to have been used as drinking cups were found at Gerlafingen (B. 392, p. 107), Sutz, Schaffis, and Locras, and from the latter there was also a skull having a circular portion of it cut out, as if trepanning had been performed. (B. 336, p. 31.)
Although it is now pretty well established that in these prehistoric times trepanning was practised as far back as the Stone Age,[143] it does not appear that this skull from Locras (B. 336, Pl. v. 28) had been operated on during the lifetime of the individual. Roundlets, cut out of skulls, are supposed to have been used as charms, and they are frequently met with in the graves of the period. From the lake-dwellings two of these objects have been recorded; one from Concise ([Fig. 185], No. 20)[144] has two small perforations for suspension, and another, with one hole, is figured by Dr. Gross. (B. 392, Pl. xxiii. 65.) On the Trajan column a Dacian village is represented having human skulls set on poles before the walls. (B. 164.) The finding of skulls of a different race in the lake-dwellings might therefore be accounted for on the supposition that they were trophies of their enemies and not those of the occupiers of the lake-dwellings. Anatomical deductions from the few long bones of skeletons that have come to light indicate, so far as the evidence goes, that the Bronze Age men were of small stature—a conclusion which is also supported by the small size of the handles of the swords and other weapons of the period.
Professor Virchow in a long review of the craniology of the Swiss lake-dwellers comes to the following conclusions (B. 433, p. 300):—
(1) In the stations of the pure Stone Age, brachycephalic skulls only are known to a certainty to have existed.
(2) In the Transition period, both brachycephalic and dolichocephalic are known.
(3) In the full Bronze period the skulls are more inclined to the dolichocephalic type.
(4) The people of La Tène were of a highly mixed character, among whom, however, brachycephalic types predominated.
The eminent Berlin anthropologist thinks that during the Bronze Age a new people joined the original lake-dwellers by degrees, but not as one great immigration subverting the previous order of things. This opinion seems to be greatly strengthened by collateral circumstances. We have already seen how gradually bronze was introduced among the lake-dwellers. No violent disturbance of the previous conditions of life is anywhere to be detected. The original system of constructing lake-villages is continued exactly the same, and the only changes are such as can be accounted for by the use of better implements. The lake-dwellings of the Bronze Age are built in deeper water, and consequently farther from the shore than those of the Stone Age, and the piles are more slender, often stems split into two or four. The steinbergs appear to have been discontinued, or were only used over a hard and stony shore into which piles could not be easily driven. The sites of the latest villages are on the same ground as, or in close proximity to, those of the earliest ones. Remains of cottages are still the same, viz. bits of plaster, with marks of round timbers, and some hearth-stones. From Lake Bourget there are portions of clay plaster of this character, ornamented with incised lines and the impressions of groups of concentric circles ([Fig. 21], No. 15) or the swastika ([Fig. 195], No. 12). Also from the same place there are bits of clay tubes, the interiors of which are blackened with soot, supposed to have been small chimneys ([Fig. 184], No. 8).
In Eastern Switzerland and the Danubian valley the number of stations greatly decreased during the Bronze Age, while in the Lake of Geneva they rather increased, and in Lake Bourget its eight stations belonged almost exclusively to this period.
The stations at Laibach, the Mondsee, Attersee, and Schussenried came to an end in the Transition period, and to the east of Lake Constance only one, viz. that in the Starnbergersee, continued during the Bronze Age. In the lakes of Constance, Zürich, Neuchâtel, Morat, and Bienne, they were also greatly reduced in numbers; but, on the other hand, they occupied larger areas, and show a greater concentration to selected localities, often the outlets of the lakes.
It was not till 1876 that any sepulchral remains bearing on the question—how the lake-dwellers disposed of their dead—came to light. In this year some workmen engaged in digging the foundation for a house in the vicinity of the site of the lake-dwelling at Auvernier, and some 50 yards from the shore, came upon a large flagstone measuring 5¼ by 4¼ feet, which turned out to be the covering of a stone coffin containing the remains of 15 or 20 skeletons. The grave was constructed in the usual way by setting four large flags on edge, which formed its sides, and over them a fifth was laid as a covering. These upright flags were of granite and gneiss, and the largest measured 6¼ feet long, 6 feet wide, and 11 inches thick. The rectangular space thus enclosed measured 5 feet 3 inches long, 3 feet 8 inches wide, and 5 feet 10 inches deep. Dr. Gross, who superintended the clearing out of its contents, states that the bodies had been placed in a sitting posture round the grave, with the heads to the walls and the feet directed towards the centre. External to this cist, on two of its sides, there was another series of upright flags, which formed two smaller chambers, and in one of them there were also human bones.
The relics associated with this burial consisted of some perforated teeth (boar, bear, and wolf); a small polished bone disc, perforated ([Fig. 196], No. 3); two small stone celts—one with a perforation for suspension in the end opposite the cutting edge. Of bronze objects, found actually in the grave, there were only three, viz. a plain pin 6¼ inches long (No. 1), a small ring (No. 6), and a bead which looked like copper (No. 2).
Six feet to the east of this tomb, and about the same depth, the workmen subsequently came upon the skeleton of a child buried simply in the earth without any stone coffin, and near it were found the following objects:—Two pairs of small oval bracelets (Nos. 4 and 5), a curious pendant like a stud (No. 7), and an amber bead.
Two of the human skulls were sent to Rütimeyer, who pronounced them to be of the Type de Sion, and identical with those he had already examined from several lake-dwellings at Nidau, Meilen, Robenhausen, and Wauwyl.
From these data it would appear that the tomb of Auvernier belonged to the Transition period. (B. 286.)
In 1876 and 1877 several interments were found near the quay at Montreux, some with, and some without, stone cists, and along with them were associated various relics, as bracelets (Nos. 10 and 11), hair-pins (Nos. 12 and 13), some pottery ornamented with geometrical figures (No. 14), flint knives, a small stone crescent, and a horse's tooth much smaller than those of our modern horse. (B. 336.) Again, in 1884, some more tombs were discovered near the same place which yielded objects of the Bronze Age, viz. a bronze pin, six bronze bracelets (Nos. 8 and 9), and two or three urns (Antiqua, 1884, p. 101).
Fig. 196.—Objects from Tombs of the Lake-Dwellers of the Bronze Age.
No. 14 = 1⁄5, and the rest = 1⁄2 real size.
Dr. F. A. Forel (B. 286, p. 48) describes "cimetières de l'époque lacustre" in the vicinity of Morges and St. Prex. In the former group some skeletons were found in stone cists, one of which had two bracelets still adhering to the bones. "Ces bracelets," says Dr. Forel, "qui sont actuellement au musée cantonal de Lausanne, et à la bibliothèque de Morges, appartiennent incontestablement par leur beau travail et leur ornamentation riche et très-caractéristique à la belle époque du Bronze, à l'époque de la grande cité de Morges." In the cemetery near St. Prex were found some thirty skeletons deposited in free earth, and associated with them were some bronze ornaments (une vingtaine de bracelets, épingles à cheveux, anneaux, etc.), which, according to Dr. Forel, incontestably belonged to the bel Age du Bronze. Moreover, in the very same place, and almost alternating regularly with the free burials, there were urns containing ashes and charcoal. One of these urns (still preserved at the date of Dr. Forel's description, 1876), which measured 6¼ inches in diameter and 5 inches in height, presented all the characters of the pottery of the lake-dwellings of the Bronze Age.
It is interesting to note here the association of the two modes of burial in the same cemetery. That both systems were prevalent in Switzerland, at least as far back as the Transition period, has recently been shown by Mr. Heierli in his description of "Eine Gruppe prähistorischer Gräber," and "Vorrömische Gräben im Kanton Zürich." As the result of these investigations he proves that burnt bodies were deposited under mounds, associated with clay vessels which were ornamented with dots, lines, and string marks, precisely similar to those on the vessels found at Vinelz.
As a further contribution to the subject, we have the prehistoric graves at Chamblandes, near Pully, which, according to the late Morel-Fatio, who describes them (B. 377),[145] belonged to the lake-dwellers of the Stone Age. It appears that a cultivator, while digging the foundations of a house, came upon a series of ancient graves, at a depth of six or seven feet, formed of four flags set on edge, with a fifth as a covering. Along with each skeleton were found 40 flakes of the tusks of the wild boar, pierced at each extremity. In one a marine shell, also pierced by two holes, was noted. In the following year further discoveries of similar graves were made in the same place, and this time their contents were more carefully examined. The sides were formed of four flags set on edge with an additional one as a covering. On the average these cists measured a mètre in length, and half this in breadth and depth, but one or two of smaller dimensions were noted. When a single skeleton was found it always lay with the feet towards the east. One, however, contained four skeletons, and in this case the heads were in the four corners. About the position of the breast some 40 doubly-perforated boar's teeth were found, which must have been attached to the garments. Besides these there were some perforated shells and two portions of colouring matter, one yellow and the other red. Another tomb contained a complete skeleton, and on the neck lay five doubly-perforated marine shells, while near the head were four pieces of yellow and red colouring matter, and two amulets of human skulls. Dispersed in this grave were beads which looked like amber, but, according to some, were coral. One grave contained a spherical hammer-stone, slightly flattened; another had a perforated and beautifully made axe of serpentine, 6½ inches long; and a third, that of a child (27 inches by 13), had three small, flat, and circular pebbles, like unperforated spindle-whorls, placed in the form of a triangle, and at one of the corners of the grave were some charcoal and fragments of burnt bones.
According to Mr. Morel-Fatio everything found in these graves had their exact analogues in the early lake-dwellings such as Chevroux. Not far off, at Pierra-Portay and Châtelard sur Lutry, other burials of the Stone Age were discovered, which also, in his opinion, belonged to the Lake-dwellers (Lacustres).