From the existence of the horny cases of various kinds of insects, some living in air and others in water, and their larvæ in various stages of evolution, Pigorini adduces an argument against the supposition that the bacino was kept constantly filled with water. (Strobel, B. 88, p. 18, and 89, p. 36; Pigorini, B. 407, p. 38; Parazzi, B. 451, p. 54.)
The protracted discussion as to whether or not amber has been found in the terremare proper was finally settled by the statement of Pigorini that, in his recent explorations (1877) at Castione, it was found in the lowest stratum. "Ora siamo certi che l'ambra si trovò in Castione sepolta nello strato infimo, e colla certezza che vi fosse penetrata nei giorni in cui lo strato stesso si formava." (B. 407, p. 51.)
As early as 1863 Strobel and Pigorini announced the discovery at Castione of a couple of amber beads, but as their position in the débris had not been determined, no inferences could be drawn from this discovery. In 1871 Coppi found a large one (fusaiuola) at Gorzano; and later, another of the same kind. One was also found at Montale, and another at Casinalbo. As these are all the records of amber up to the decided discovery of Pigorini, it is clear that it was a very scarce object among the terramaricoli. The number from Montale, however, now amounts to 16, the largest of which is 1¾ inches in diameter. (B. 279b, 298b, 311a'.)
Age.—In the spring of 1865 Pigorini explored and described a station in the district of Parma called Fontanellato, which, at the time, he considered to be a terramara containing a fascine structure belonging to the Iron Age. (B. 112.) In the excavations which were conducted here the following different strata were exposed from above downwards:—(1) 2 feet of soil; (2) a bed of alluvial deposits 4 inches thick; (3) a bed of materials similar in colour and composition to those of the ordinary terramara deposits, 1 foot 10 inches thick; (4) a mass of mixed materials 2 feet 7 inches thick, containing roots, branches, leaves, etc., mixed with clay, together with pottery, short piles, charcoal, bones of animals, shells, fruits, seeds, etc.
The objects of special interest collected were fragments of coarse pottery, made, however, on the wheel, and particularly some vessels made of potstone; a large stone splinter, showing marks of usage; a bronze ring, and some iron slag.
In 1883 Pigorini recurs to the remains at Fontanellato (B. 408) and explains that, owing to the great progress made in the investigations of the terramara deposits, and the additional light thrown on the subject, he has come to the conclusion that the station at Fontanellato was not a direct continuation of the terramara system which prevailed in the Bronze Age, but a "palafitta barbarica," in which he sees the practical evidence of the incursions, into the Po valley many centuries later, of the northern hordes of barbarians which gave the final coup to the Roman empire. That these people were conversant with such structures there is ample evidence in the analogous remains of terpen in Holland, the burgwälle and lake-dwellings of Germany, the Tószeg and other mounds in Hungary, etc. (B. 410b.)
Nor does the station at Fontanellato stand as an isolated example of these later structures. Chierici found one at Marmirolo, in the district of Reggio.[42] Another is recorded by Cornalia,[43] and Pigorini thinks that several other stations which have been more or less described belong to the same class as those in the Thrasimene district[44] and that at Offida, near Piceno. (B. 343.) With these exceptions, there are no terramara mounds of the Iron Age, and the system is supposed to have flourished in the early Bronze Age and to have fallen completely into desuetude before the commencement of the Iron Age.