Fig. 245.—Fore-arm, encircled with Bracelets, found in the Tombs of Belleville (Savoy).
Fig. 246.—Fore-arm, encircled with Bracelets, found in the Tombs of Belleville (Savoy).
The lacustrine settlements of Switzerland have contributed a valuable element towards the historic reconstruction of the iron epoch.
In different parts of the lakes of Bienne and Neuchâtel there are pile-works which contain iron objects intermingled with the remains of preceding ages. But there is only one lacustrine settlement in Switzerland which belongs exclusively to the earliest period of the Iron Age—that of La Tène on the Lake of Neuchâtel.
Most of the objects which have been met with in this lacustrine settlement have been recovered from the mud in which they had been so remarkably preserved, being sheltered from any contact with the outer air. There are, however, many spots in which piles may be seen, where objects of this kind have not been found; but if subsequent researches are attended with any results, we shall be forced to attribute to the settlement of La Tène a considerable degree of importance, for the piles there extend over an area of 37 acres.
The remains of all kinds which have been found in this settlement are evidently of Gallic origin. It is an easy matter to prove this by comparing the weapons found in this settlement with those which were discovered in the trenches of Alise-Sainte-Reine, the ancient Alesia, where, in its last contest against Cæsar, the independence of ancient Gaul came to an end.