On the other hand, the station is prominent for the beauty and elegance of its flint implements, many of which were, when found, still in their horn or wooden handles. Along with the horn haftings may be mentioned perforated hammers, chisels, barbed harpoons, pins, awls, flax-heckles, amulets, perforated teeth, and boars' tusks of great size. Among wooden objects the most remarkable are a wooden door, still retaining portion of a polished oval bolt of yew which traversed it horizontally (B. 336, p. 48), and a portion of a ladder (B. 347). The fragments of pottery indicated not only coarse material but rude workmanship. The clay is badly burnt, and it is uniformly mixed with pieces of quartz or small pebbles of the size of a pea. The vessels are roughly cylindrical, and have thick bases, but no ornamentation, not even the projecting knobs so characteristic of Locras. Some large clay balls, perforated in the centre, are probably loom-weights, and among the remains are bits of plaited and woven flax, which prove that the art of weaving was well known to the inhabitants. Dr. v. Fellenberg, from whose writings I have taken the substance of this notice, considers the settlement one of the earliest among the Swiss lake-dwellings and much inferior to some of the other Stone Age settlements in Lake Bienne.
A cup made from the upper part of a human skull found here has attracted much attention. (B. 119, 2nd ed., p. 221.)
Twann (Douanne).—It must be remembered that the west side of the lake does not present the same facilities for pile-dwellings as the opposite shore, owing to the steepness of the immediate shore-land and the rapidity with which deep water is met with. Moreover, the narrow strip of beach available for the purpose has become greatly covered up with alluvial deposits, as is proved from a discovery made at Twann. Here, at a depth of 15 or 20 feet, some workmen, while making excavations in connection with railway works near the quay, came upon a blackish bed of mould containing piles, pottery, staghorn implements, etc., which, on being inspected by Dr. Gross who happened to be passing at the time, was at once recognised as the site of a lacustrine station. Mr. Irlet, of Twann, has also discovered another station at Wingreis, in the vicinity of which the canoe, now so well preserved in the Museum at Neuveville, was found. ([See page 481].) The objects from Wingreis consist of stone hatchets, flints, and horn handles. (B. 462, p. 32.)
In 1886 another station, called "Bipschal," was announced by Dr. v. Fellenberg as having been discovered by Ed. Matthys between Ligerz and Twann. (B. 462, p. 35.)
Vingelz.—Dr. v. Fellenberg states (B. 462, p. 32) that in 1874, when the great canoe which for many years was known to be lying in the mud near Vingelz was raised, a deeply-buried relic-bed was brought to light.
Nearly 3,000 feet from the shore, and opposite the steinberg of Nidau, there is what is supposed to have been a small station, on which a few objects were found, among which is to be noted a great stone weight with an iron ring round it. A group of piles was observed to run from it in the direction of the Nidau steinberg, and hence it is conjectured that a bridge formerly connected the two. (B. 15 and 22.)
Between Vingelz and Bienne there is a small steinberg, on which a few arrow-heads of iron are said to have been found.
Port.—During the excavations for the "Correction des Eaux du Jura" some remarkable discoveries were made, especially along the Lower Thielle, between Nidau and Meyenried. Immediately below the little village of Port the remains of a palatitte of the Stone Age were met with. The station appeared to have been of considerable extent, as the piles were traced for several hundred yards along the line of the canal. The relic-bed was 7 feet below the surface, and amongst its débris were found various implements of stone and horn. Among the stone celts was one of nephrite, still in its horn fastening, the handle of which was covered over with a bluish coating of amorphous vivianite. (B. 446, p. 11.)
LAKE OF NEUCHÂTEL.
The Lake of Neuchâtel, like that of Bienne, was studded with lake villages, particularly in the more sheltered localities. From data collected by Col. Schwab a chart was constructed and published in 1863, showing no less than 46 stations in the lake; but many of them were of little archæological value beyond giving indications of their existence. Since then some additional sites have been added to this list, and from the activity with which lacustrine researches have been conducted, especially after the lowering of the water by the "Correction des Eaux," many of the supposed less important sites have turned out extremely rich in antiquities.