The people of Verona were greatly chagrined to find that these successive discoveries, which had now attained much celebrity in archæological circles, were constantly slipping out of their hands, and that in their own local museum there was scarcely a single article illustrative of the culture and social condition of these early lake-dwellers. To rectify this state of matters and make some amends for their past neglect the Academical Commission was induced to order a fresh investigation under De Stefani, whose recent success was characterised as "risultati splendidissimi." Again the excavations of De Stefani were crowned with great success. In 1881 his attentions were directed to Peschiera, which yielded him a considerable number of articles, being the fourth important supply since its discovery in 1851. In 1883 the station in the Mincio was subjected to further explorations, and De Stefani's labours were rewarded by a rich harvest of relics, mostly of the Stone Age, which included many flint implements, as knives, hatchets, saws, arrow-points, etc.
The relics collected on both these occasions are now deposited in the Museo Civico at Verona, and at last this town shares with Rome, Vienna, and Zürich, the honour of possessing a collection of these remarkable remains. (B. 342, 358, 370, 424, and "Notizie degli Scavi, 1880 and 1884.")
From these general remarks it will be seen that there are only three lake-dwellings in Lake Garda that have yielded remains sufficiently comprehensive in quantity and variety to enable us to form some idea of the period to which they belonged, viz. the station close to the fortress of Peschiera, that in the Mincio, and that known as Il Bor on the south-east shore of the lake.
Peschiera.—Since the report of Baron v. Sacken the various researches conducted here have not thrown additional light on the general condition and distribution of the piles. De Stefani bears testimony to the accuracy of the facts as to the archæological stratum in which the relics were found, and observes that the overlying bed of sand and gravel sometimes attained a depth of over 4 feet. (B. 424, p. 9.) In it were found decomposed organic matter, bits of charcoal, fragments of pottery, and bronze objects. In the previous discoveries only one stone implement was recorded, so that the station was considered to be exclusively of the Bronze Age. Nor was its character in this respect much altered by the recent researches, as only a few implements of stone were found, viz. two knives or scrapers, one arrow-point and a few chips of flint, a round sling-stone of granite, and another of an oval form with marks of having been used. Nothing of importance was added as regards its flora and fauna. De Stefani describes a curious object like a biscuit, picked out of the dredged stuff, which he considered might have been a cake of bread. It was made of viscous matter and measured 4 inches in diameter and ¾ of an inch thick, and contained bruised cereals; but, as he was examining it, it slipped through his fingers and again fell into the water. (B. 424, p. 10.)
This settlement appears to have flourished exclusively in the Bronze Age, as may be seen from a glance at the accompanying illustrations ([Figs. 63], [64], and [65]).
Pottery.—The fragments of earthenware indicate a great variety of vessels made of two kinds of paste—a coarse and a fine quality. Of the latter, Nos. 26 to 30, [Fig. 65], are sufficient to show that the ceramic art of the lake-dwellers was identical at one period of their existence with that of the terramaricoli in which the anse lunate (No. 26) are so characteristic.
Bronze.—Weapons, implements, and ornaments of this material are extremely numerous, numbering upwards of 300 objects. Among the weapons we find socketed lance-heads ([Fig. 64], No. 10), daggers (No. 1 to 7), single-edged knives (No. 11), and a remarkable series of double-edged dagger-knives with riveted tangs or sword-like handles ([Fig. 65], Nos. 10, and 12 to 14).
The implements include three kinds of hatchets ([Fig. 63], No. 30; [Fig. 64], No. 32, and [Fig. 65], No. 11), chisels and gouges ([Fig. 63], No. 36), sickles (No. 33), various forms of razors with handle and double cutting edges (Nos. 1 to 5), needles (No. 7), and fish-prongs and hooks ([Fig. 64], Nos. 18 to 21, 30 and 31).
