The bridges from the Insel to the Werder, and from the Werder to the shore, were built on two rows of piles, 8 feet apart, and the piles in each row were about 7 feet apart. Major Kasiski inferred from the remains of the unfinished bridge, which showed the use of tenons and mortises, that it was of later date than the others.
Among the relics collected on the island or amidst its surrounding structures are two halves of an upper quern, 14½ inches in diameter and 5 inches thick. The under side is concave, and the centre hole, which has a diameter of 1¼ inches, widens upwards like a funnel. Querns have been found in several lake-dwellings in North Germany, as Gägelow, Wismar, and Cottbus, in Neumark.[54] Other relics consist of wooden clubs, two portions of leather, a skate made of the leg-bone of a horse, staghorn hammers, five sharpening-stones, a few spindle-whorls of stone and clay, a bit of coral, seven portions of worked wood—a shovel, rudder, etc. Of metal there are a fragment of bronze and an iron hatchet. The latter implement is small, measuring only 3½ inches long, and 2½ inches wide at its cutting-edge, and has a round hole for the handle.
The pottery, of which 45 fragments were collected, was made of fine clay, by means of the potter's-wheel, and from the variety of its ornamentation and characteristic wavy lines, there can be no doubt that it belonged to the type of the Burgwälle—an inference which is greatly strengthened by its resemblance to that found in the Wallberg in the Raddatzsee, a noted Burgwall situated in the close vicinity. Illustrations of a few specimens of this pottery are given on [Fig. 96], Nos. 6 to 9.
From an examination of the bones collected the following animals were identified, viz.:—horse, ox, goat, sheep, pig, dog, fox, deer, and roe.
In the Virchowsee a little to the north of Persanzig there is a huge Burgwall surrounded by water, in which the remains of piles have been found. (B. 165.)
Streitzigsee.—On the lowering of this lake a very large assortment of piles became exposed, but although several excavations were made, both by Professor Virchow and others, no decided results were obtained bearing on their character and scope. (B. 165.)
Lübtowsee.—Another locality which has furnished remains of pile-dwellings lies to the right of the Oder, in the vicinity of Lübtow. (B. 165.) Here the river Plöne traverses a long lake, and on its being lowered in 1859, an extensive area covered with piles became visible towards its northern end. It is said that many relics were found among these piles, some of which were collected by the proprietor; but the idea of their belonging to lake-dwellings was not mooted till several years afterwards. Professor Virchow visited the locality in 1865, and again in 1869, and on the latter occasion he made extensive excavations, which convinced him that this was a regular lake-settlement. Later on the foundations of a quadrangular wooden building came to light, from which, owing to its being 3 feet under the late lake level, Mr. Kühne inferred that the lake must have formerly stood at a lower level. That this structure, however, as well as the piles, belonged to the Iron Age, he says there can be no doubt whatever, as the antiquities collected in both were precisely similar, being generally iron objects, such as swords, lance and arrow-heads, stirrups, spurs, knives, and bricks of the thirteenth or fourteenth century. In the rectangular building, in addition to such objects, were found a helmet and greaves. But what was considered still more singular, there was found among the piles a number of stone chisels and hammers, together with one bronze celt. (B. 119, 2o ed., p. 629.)
Adjacent to this lake at Bonin, and deeply buried in the turf, indications of wooden structures came to light which, in 1872, attracted the attention of Professor Virchow, who, in company with the local antiquaries, made excavations which revealed structures analogous to those in the Persanzigersee. (B. 227.) In excavating they passed through the following distinct layers:—First, 5 to 8 feet of peat; second, some thin layers of marl, sand, and mud; and third, a relic-bed, 2 to 4 feet in thickness. The woodwork appeared to the investigators to have been cut by sharp metal tools. Among the relics collected were four sharpening-stones, a few perforated staghorn hammers, a bone chisel 6½ inches long, some large horn handles, a small iron knife, bits of leather, fragments of wooden dishes, and part of a boat. Pottery was also found which belonged to the Burgwälle type.
Soldinersee.—In 1857 this lake was lowered 7 to 8 feet, when two islands became visible, one of which turned out to be the site of a lake-dwelling, and yielded a considerable number of antiquities, among which was portion of a reindeer horn. (B. 165, p. 407.)
In 1873 Major Kamienski examined it with greater care, and published a short notice of the results. (B. 241.) The island was 150 yards from the shore, and measured 85 by 30 yards. It contained many piles, and showed no evidence of having been destroyed by fire. The relics were of a mixed character. With flint flakes and broken stone-axes were various iron objects, as a hook, a spear-head, three knife-blades, and three halves of horseshoes. There were also arrow-points of bone, two portions of bows, a clay spindle-whorl, a bone shuttle, beautifully worked, and a piece of horn with a kind of ornamentation cut on it. The fragments of pottery also indicated different kinds. Stones, which looked as if they had been exposed to fire, were supposed to have been used as hearths. Among the osseous remains were those of the ox, pig, stag, roe, fox, bear, beaver, wild boar, and a single vertebra of a fish.