LAGOZZA.
Lagozza is the name given to a small natural "bacino torbosa" situated in an undulating plateau of morainic débris, about 4 miles from Gallarate in the province of Milan. It is roughly oval in shape and covers a superficial area of 10 or 12 acres. Till recently this basin was a peaty bog, passable in summer, with certain precautions, to "Cacciatori;" but in former times, as its name implies, it was a stagnant lake. In 1875 the proprietor, Count Cornaggio, an ardent and skilful agriculturist, determined to remove the peat altogether, and, for this purpose, commenced operations by cutting a central canal to carry off the water. While the workmen were thus engaged they began to find near the middle of the bog bits of pottery, charcoal, and rotten piles, which, on skilled attention being directed to them, turned out to be undoubted indications of a prehistoric lake-dwelling. The process of clearing out the peat was therefore watched with great interest by local antiquaries, as the operation would involve a more thorough investigation of the antiquities imbedded in the peat than any researches that were likely to be undertaken solely from the scientific point of view. It was not till the spring of 1880 that the main portion of the palafitte was reached by the peat-cutters, and then various antiquarian objects were met with. The turf is now entirely removed, and the relics collected are deposited partly in the Museo Civico in Milan, and partly in the Museo Archeologico at Como.
The pile-dwelling occupied a rectangular space, near the centre of the bacino, about 80 yards long from north to south and 30 to 40 yards broad. The turf here varied in thickness from 1 to 2 yards, according to the state of moisture; below which there was a muddy stratum containing the roots of water plants (fango con radice), among which the tops of the piles appeared. This layer was 16 inches thick, and immediately below it was the strato archeologico, which varied in thickness from 2 to 8 inches, and contained the usual débris of human occupancy embedded in a matrix of black peat mud and earth. Below this again was a stratum of black earth, mixed with the whitish clay or marl of the ancient lake bottom, in which the points of the piles were firmly fixed. The piles were pointed at the base and irregularly fixed, 4 or 5 to the square yard, and varied in length from 3½ to 5 feet, with a diameter of 4 to 8 inches. Many prepared beams either of round or split stems, some over 20 feet in length, lay buried in the peat, as if they had fallen from a platform. Regazzoni draws attention to some short beams having a square-cut hole at each end. One of these beams measured 24½ inches long, 4¾ broad, and 3½ thick, and the holes were 2¾ by 1½ inches. The top of a tree whose branches were neatly chopped off at the distance of 6 or 7 inches from the stem was supposed to have been used as a ladder.
Castelfranco thinks the points of the piles were fashioned by some sharp-cutting instrument of metal, as some of the cuts were 11 inches long, and such as no stone weapon could have produced ("non credo che una scure di pietra sia mai stata capace di tanto"). This observation is very significant in face of the fact that there is no object of metal among the relics from Lagozza, with the exception of a fibula ([Fig. 61], No. 18), found in the lower part of the turf and, therefore, outside the well-defined relic-bed. This fibula belongs to the early Iron Age, and it is doubtful whether it belonged to the inhabitants of the palafitte. The same author also states that where charcoal and partially burnt wood were in greater abundance there also the relics were more numerous, and hence he concludes that the settlement came to an end by a conflagration ("il risultato di un incendio generale o di parecchi parziali").
Among the industrial remains collected from Lagozza pottery takes the chief place. The quality is of two kinds, coarse and fine, the latter having a smooth black appearance and without any admixture of coarse sand. The vessels, of which a considerable number are whole or nearly so, consist of cups, bowls, plates, vases, spoons, etc. They are generally without handles, having, instead, perforated knobs, as may be seen from the accompanying illustrations ([Fig. 62], Nos. 2, 6, 7, 9, and 15). The plates are sometimes ornamented with panels containing impressions of circles, dots, and lines (Nos. 3, 10, and 13). Some of the larger dishes have conical protuberances or finger-marks round the margin (Nos. 1 and 4).
The spindle-whorls, about 40 of which are in the Museum at Como, are somewhat peculiar, being flat circular cakes of burnt clay with a hole in the centre, and often ornamented with lines or rows of elliptical impressions ([Fig. 61], Nos. 12 to 17).
There are some clay weights of the usual conical shape, and others kidney-shaped with a perforation at each end ([Fig. 62], No. 14). In some of these weights bits of straw and grains of barley and wheat have been detected.
There is not a single article made of bone or horn, nor any trace of fishing or hunting gear, with the exception of one or two arrow-heads ([Fig. 61], Nos. 5 and 6).
Fig. 61.—Lagozza. All 1⁄2 real size.
Stone celts are scarce, only about 30 in all, and none perforated (No. 10). One small implement is in the form of a double-edged axe, and adapted for cutting at both ends (No. 8).
Flint flakes or knives (Nos. 1 to 4) are numerous, but cores and chips are less frequent. Arrow-points are extremely few—only three have I seen in the Museum at Como, but their authenticity seems to be questioned by Castelfranco, who thinks they were not actually from the relic-bed in the palafitte. Among the usual stone objects, such as hammers, rubbers, etc., are to be noticed a number of white quartz pebbles and eight or nine small polished stones with scratched markings on them ([Fig. 62], Nos. 11 and 12).
Fig. 62.—Lagozza. All 1⁄3 real size.
A wooden comb ([Fig. 61], No. 11), with teeth at one side, is, I believe, the only specimen from any of the lake-dwellings in Italy.
Ornaments or charms are represented by one small pendant of green steatite perforated for suspension (No. 7).
As evidence that the inhabitants were in the habit of spinning and weaving, there are, besides the spindle-whorls and clay weights, bits of thread and cord, and one small fragment of coarsely-made linen tissue (No. 9). According to Professor Sordelli, this was made from wild flax (Linum angustifolium), of which he found the seeds and fibres in abundance, but no trace of the cultivated species. On the other hand, there were two kinds of wheat and the six-eared barley. Among the food-remains were the wild apple, acorns, hazel-nuts, stones of the cornel cherry, poppy-seeds, etc.
But the most remarkable feature of Lagozza is, that no animal bones of any description were found—not a tooth, or horn, or bone of any kind. Neither were there any warlike weapons, with the exception of the few questionable arrow-points. Castelfranco therefore suggests that the inhabitants of Lagozza might have been vegetarians. (B. 354, 359b, 372d´, 387, 409, 452, 456, and 459c.)