LAKE BOURGET.
As early as 1856, while the Mont Cenis and Culoz railway was being constructed, some antiquities were dredged up in the bay of Grésine, in Lake Bourget, which the engineers surmised to be remains of a lake-dwelling. Though this information was formally communicated to the Société Savoissienne, it was not till 1862, in consequence of renewed attention to these discoveries by Baron Despine and M. Desor, that this society took steps to investigate the matter. A preliminary investigation conducted by a committee of seven gentlemen was considered so satisfactory that the committee was renewed, with funds at its disposal for systematic researches among the palafittes. Since then several archæologists have conducted independent researches, among whom may be noted particularly Le Comte Costa de Beauregard, MM. Rabut, Perrin, Revon, Cazalis de Fondouce, and Chantre. (B. 73, 138, 176, 179, 282.)
The combined results of these explorers have now established the fact that there were eight settlements in this lake, all of them belonging to the Bronze Age. The antiquities fished up have been very numerous, but unfortunately they are widely distributed, many indeed being in private collections. The largest proportion is, however, to be found in the Museums of Chambery, Aix-les-Bains, Annecy, and St. Germain, and the private collection of Count de Beauregard in his château on the Lake of Geneva. (For relative position of these stations see [Sketch Map of Lake Bourget].)
Conjux.—This station is 200 yards from the shore, opposite the village of the same name. A group of piles only 50 yards from the shore is supposed to have been the ruins of a Roman pottery business, on account of the abundance of characteristic ware found among them. A peculiarity of this station is the number of moulds found on it in proportion to the other objects, no less than 13 being recorded up to 1875, representing all manner of industrial implements, as knives, winged and socketed celts, sickles, hammers, pins, rings, and buttons.
Chatillon.—This settlement occupied a sheltered position about 500 feet from the shore. In one part the piles project out of the mud, and are all inclined towards the east at an angle of 45°, but in the rest of the station they are straight. A vessel of earthenware, like the later productions of the lake-dwellers, was found among these piles with the name Severinus stamped on it in Roman characters. (B. 176, p. 24.) Here were found some 40 or 50 of these very remarkable vessels of black earthenware, ornamented with tin strips forming a combination of pleasing designs ([Fig. 193], Nos. 4 and 5); also some fragments of Gallo-Roman pottery, and others of a very early type. Among the relics are eight moulds (one of which is for a lance-head) and about 320 objects of bronze.
Gresine.—The bay of Grésine contains the sites of two settlements—one close to the railway, and the other farther out and of larger extent. The latter appears to have been connected with the Pointe de Grésine, as a gravel bank runs from this part of the shore to the site of the palafitte; and the two stations were connected with a gangway, the remains of which have been traced. The railway just touches the site of the inner station, to which accident the discovery of palafittes in Lake Bourget is due. Although the stations at Grésine have been more frequently searched than any others, owing to their proximity to Aix-les-Bains, they have continued for a long time to be the richest in all kinds of antiquities, carbonised fruits, etc. Among the moulds is one for the handle of a sword on one side, and a buckle on the other. (B. 282, Pl. liv. 2.) No less than five bronze hammers have been found on this station, all of which are socketed and cylindrical in shape. Last summer some remarkable objects were fished up, which I saw in the collection of the finder at the Restaurant Lacustre (Port Puer), some of which are here figured ([Fig. 21], Nos. 4, 6, and 12).
Meimart.—The débris of this settlement lies about 100 yards from the shore, under 16 to 20 feet of water, and hence it has been less searched, although it is of considerable extent, and has yielded a few antiquities, notably a bronze sword, moulds, fragments of pottery, and a Roman vase.
Le Saut.—This settlement, like the others, was on a slight elevation some 110 yards from the shore, and at low water its relics have to be fished from a depth of about 10 feet. The station has been well explored, and it has been observed that the ceramic remains indicate greater technical skill the farther out in the lake they are picked up, and where the piles are seen to project higher above the mud. A piece of timber 22 feet long, with numerous mortises at each end, and a bone harpoon with one barb, like those of bronze from Peschiera, are the only objects which distinguish the antiquities of this station, which in general are very similar to those from Grésine.
Les Fiollets.—A small settlement in 15 to 20 feet of water. The few bronze objects found here are covered with calcareous matter. Some of the pins collected on it are of novel forms, but the most interesting object is a small file, which may be seen in the Museum at Chambery. Mortised beams were also fished up from this station.
Charpignat.—Some piles have been observed near the village of Bourget, but the associated industrial remains, if any, have not yet been revealed.
In 1875 Mr. Perrin made a series of elaborate statistics, by which he estimated the entire number of bronze objects from the palafittes in Lake Bourget at a little over 4,000, and tabulated them in various categories according to their uses, indicating the stations on which they were found, and the museums or collections in which they were then located. (B. 282.) Since then so many additional relics have been recovered from the palafittes that Mr. Perrin's tables can offer no approximation to accuracy; but, nevertheless, they have a certain value in showing the relative frequency of the different objects. I have, therefore, taken the liberty of reconstructing from Mr. Perrin's data the following list of the objects found in Lake Bourget, which gives a better general idea of the culture and civilisation of its lake-dwellers than pages of descriptive details:—
| Grésine. | All Stations. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Founders' | ┏Moulds | 22 | 49 |
| Materials | ┗Ingots and Castings | 46 | 171 |
┏Hammers | 5 | 7 | |
| ┃Hatchets | 19 | 38 | |
| ┃Chisels | 2 | 4 | |
| ┃Gouges | 1 | 1 | |
| ┃Sickles | 7 | 23 | |
| ┃Knives | 35 | 126 | |
| Utensils | ┃Paring Knives (Tranchets) | 4 | 13 |
| and | ┫Razors | 18 | 32 |
| Instruments | ┃Stamp | — | 1 |
| ┃Borers, etc. | 32 | 164 | |
| ┃Saws | 1 | 2 | |
| ┃File | — | 1 | |
| ┃Rivets and Nails | 115 | 248 | |
| ┃Needles | 46 | 190 | |
| ┃Fish-hooks | 38 | 144 | |
| ┗Pincers | 5 | 7 | |
┏Swords | 2 | 3 | |
| ┃Daggers | 9 | 12 | |
| Arms | ┫Lances | 5 | 16 |
| ┃Arrow-heads | 23 | 49 | |
| ┗Shields | 1 | 2 | |
┏Hair-pins | 163 | 798 | |
| ┃Fibulæ | 2 | 2 | |
| ┃Bracelets | 82 | 252 | |
| ┃Torques | 1 | 2 | |
| ┃Finger-rings | 32 | 121 | |
| Objects | ┃Earrings | 4 | 22 |
| of | ┫Girdles | 1 | 1 |
| Ornament | ┃ | ||
| ┃Buckles, Rings, etc. | 140 | 598 | |
| ┃Pendants | 7 | 16 | |
| ┃Clasps | 7 | 50 | |
| ┃Buttons | 35 | 63 | |
| ┃Brackets, etc. | 43 | 185 | |
| ┃Beads | 115 | 488 | |
| ┗Tubes and Spirals | |||
| Diverse Objects | 34 | 108 | |
| Total | 1,110 | 4,002 | |
General Remarks on the Palafittes of Lake Bourget.—Count Costa de Beauregard, in his excellent article on the "Habitations Lacustres du Lac du Bourget" (B. 176), states that the stakes on which these villages were reared were generally of oak, measuring from six to eight inches in diameter, and that they were placed at a distance of 100 to 200 yards from the shore, in a depth of 4 or 5 yards of water. Their lower extremities almost always bore cutting marks, which could only be made by metal tools. The great differences as regards their state of preservation show that the settlements had been occupied for a long time, necessitating the renewal of the piles at different epochs.
The Count also believes that all the palafittes of Lake Bourget were constructed during the Bronze Age, in regard to which he thus writes:—"Malgré les quelques instruments de silex et les hachettes de pierre rencontrés dans nos fouilles, il est peu probable, comme je l'ai déjà dit, que ces bourgades aient été fondées à l'Epoque de la Pierre. Tout nous porte à croire, au contraire, qu'elles florissaient à l'Epoque du Bronze, période qui a dû être de fort longue durée en Savoie, car il a fallu bien des siècles pour accumuler sur les différents points que nous avons explorés une pareille quantité d'objets et de débris de toute sorte." (Ibid., p. 23.)
Relics.—Weapons.—The swords recovered are few, and of one type ([Fig. 20], No. 16). That they are of home manufacture is more than probable from the finding of portion of a mould of the same class of weapon, now deposited in the Museum of Chambery. Only a few tips of scabbards hitherto found ([Fig. 21], No. 20). The daggers were both tanged and riveted to their handles. Lance-heads (Nos. 1 to 4) are all socketed, with only one or two exceptions (Nos. 5 and 12), which might be daggers. They are generally unornamented. Arrow-points are formed for the most part of triangular plates of bronze, with two or four holes for fastening them to the stem; but other forms are met with ([Fig. 21], Nos. 13, 22 to 26, and 32).
Fig. 20.—Lake Bourget. All 1⁄3 real size.
Fig. 21.—Lake Bourget. Nos. 34 to 37 = 1⁄4, the rest = 1⁄2 real size.
Implements.—Hatchets ([Fig. 20], Nos. 9, 10, 11, and 17) are both winged and socketed, and the latter have their sockets round, oval, or rectangular. The chisels and gouges are all socketed (No. 19). Sickles (Nos. 20 and 21) have nearly all a raised button for fixing the handle (in which respect they differ from those of Switzerland), and may be classified under a variety of groups dependent on the degree of curvature and the disposition of their raised ribs. The knives are socketed, tanged, and with a solid handle (Nos. 6, 7, 8, 13, and 14); the former being most, and the latter less, frequent. Razors are of two kinds, with or without a handle (Nos. 22 and 23). Needles have the eye either at the end or middle. Awls and a variety of fish-hooks are abundant; but spears or harpoons are very rare. Rivets, nails, and bits of thin bronze plates, are in some places abundantly met with. Examples of saws and files have been found, but in small numbers.
Ornaments.—Pins with large round heads are very rare, as are also those with wheel heads (the various forms are shown in [Fig. 21], Nos. 10, 18, 19, 21, 30, and 31). Bracelets (Nos. 16, 17, and 29), which are numerous, and mostly open, are either solid or hollow (one is of tin); fibulæ and torques rare; finger-rings are of two kinds, plain and spiral (No. 7); portions of girdles, buckles, pendants (No. 5), buttons (No. 33), bronze beads, and small spirals, are abundant; a clasp is like one from Mörigen ([Fig. 20], No. 25). Tin appears in ingots, in a bracelet, discs, and thin strips for ornamentation to dishes; also gold in the form of a few portions of twisted wire or leaf. Several bronze vessels. One charming little vase ([Fig. 21], No. 14) of cast bronze, figured by Count Costa de Beauregard, and now in his possession, was found at Grésine along with a sword ([Fig. 20], No. 16), a knife (No. 8), and about 250 nails supposed to have been used in the manufacture of a shield. Nos. 1 and 2 of [Fig. 21] represent two remarkable objects from Grésine, now exhibited in the Museum at Aix-les-Bains. A similar object, but more worn and minus some of its rings, is in the Museum at Chambery; and a fourth is in the Museum Lacustre at the Port ([Fig. 195], No. 4). Crescents, spindle-whorls, fragments of cloth, bits of plaited rushes and basket-work, glass in small coloured beads, and amber ([Fig. 21], Nos. 27 and 28), also in small beads, are all fully represented.
The articles represented by Nos. 4, 6, and 12, may be the brass ornaments on a set of harness; but as to the two curious vessels of bronze (Nos. 8 and 11), I am unable to assign any use.
The pottery shows great skill in the ceramic art. It is of a grey, black, or red colour (Nos. 34, 35, 36, and 37). Vessels combining the three colours, in various geometrical forms, with linear ornamentation, have been found among them, and others with ornamentation reminding one of the impressions of fern-leaves (Polypodium vulgare).
A few iron spear-heads ([Fig. 198]) and knives, as well as Roman tiles and pottery, have also been collected from these palafittes.
The domestic and wild animals, so far as they have been identified, are similar to those from the Swiss lake-dwellings.