Pont de la Thielle.—Leaving the Lake of Bienne, and following the Upper Thielle, we come to the Pont de la Thielle (Zihlbrücke), which crosses the river at a short distance below where it emerges from Lake Neuchâtel. A little above this bridge and on both sides of the river, Col. Schwab discovered piles, among which he collected some industrial remains at a depth of 5 feet, from which he concluded that there had been here an ordinary pile-dwelling, in what was then probably a bay of the lake. With the exception of one hair-pin of bronze, the objects collected were of the Stone Age. (B. 32.) In 1870 v. Fellenberg made some further investigations, which, while justifying the conclusions previously arrived at, showed that the station had larger dimensions than were formerly suspected, and that the relic-bed was in some parts deeply buried. He enumerates the following relics as the result of his labours:—7 large stone axes and 9 small or imperfect ones, of serpentine, diorite, etc.; 20 implements of bone—pointers, daggers, chisels, etc.; a large number of staghorn axe-hammer heads (perforated); flakes of flint and other flint implements, and one beautifully-worked arrow-head; a knife of polished nephrite. The pottery indicated a coarse paste mixed with rough sand, and some of the vessels were ornamented with knobs. (B. 196, p. 281.)
According to Mr. Dardel-Thorens,[5] a Roman station succeeded the palafitte, as many objects of pure Roman origin were found amongst the piles on the right bank. Among these he mentions a lion head of bronze, portion of a girdle, a silver ring like those from Pompeii, knives, chisels, axes, etc., and a tile with the legion mark CLXXI; also a piece of worked horn with figures.
La Tène (Stone Age Stations).—Close to the outlet, on its north side, is the celebrated station known as La Tène, which, from the remarkable character and varied assortment of iron implements found on it, has given a name to a well-defined period of the Early Iron Age. Now that the lowering of the level of the lake has left its site on dry ground, and its exploration has become thus greatly facilitated, it would appear that La Tène was more of a stronghold, commanding a bridge which crossed the Thielle at its outlet, than a real pile-village. Its consideration will therefore be deferred till we come to the description of the lake-dwellings of the Iron Age.
Making a circuit of the lake westwards, we come at once on a series of four stations, the ruins of which lie scattered on the shore between La Tène and the promontory of Préfargier. Their débris lay embedded in a thick bed of ancient mud, which has since become undermined, and almost entirely washed away by the waves, leaving the heavier antiquities amongst the rolled pebbles. Some beautiful implements of nephrite and jadeite, and occasionally copper objects, have been thus picked up, some of which are still in the possession of Messrs. Vouga, Dardel-Thorens, and other local collectors.
St. Blaise.—This station has only come into prominence since the operations for the "Correction des Eaux du Jura" took effect on the lake; and although its investigation has been somewhat desultorily conducted, the finds from it are extremely interesting, as they are characteristic of the period of transition. The settlement, was situated to the west of the town of St. Blaise, and appears to have occupied a large area, as piles extended more or less all the way to Hauterive. Its chief explorers and relic-holders are Messrs. Vouga, Zintgraff, and Dardel-Thorens. In 1878 Dr. Gross published a description of its relics with two plates of illustrations, and subsequently a notice of it appeared in the Anzeiger (B. 376a) and Das Ausland (B. 418, p. 49). Among some thousands of stone axes, of which about ten per cent are perforated, there are many of nephrite, jadeite, chloromelanite, and saussurite. These latter are generally small, and set in horn fixers with a split at the end. The perforated hatchets (one of which is an unfinished specimen, with the core still in the hole) have often one end formed into a hammer ([Fig. 8], Nos. 25 and 26). Among the many worked objects of horn and bone, such as pins (Nos. 22, 23, and 24), perforated clubs (No. 20), and daggers or spear-heads (No. 21), are some curiously-wrought pieces, which suggested to Dr. Gross the idea that they were part of a machine for boring holes in hard substances. The chief interest, however, lies in the number and variety of copper objects which this station has yielded. Out of about a dozen articles of metal, only one is said to be bronze (No. 4)—a dagger with a well-defined mid-rib—while the rest consist of two flat axes (Nos. 6, a fragment, and 14), six daggers after the type of the flint weapons (Nos. 1 to 5, 7, and 9), a knife (No. 8),[6] a bit of a spiral (No. 18), an arrow-point with some asphalt still adhering to it (No. 16), two small awls (Nos. 15 and 17), two earrings (Nos. 11 and 12), and two beads (Nos. 10 and 13).
Fig. 8.—St. Blaise. Nos. 20 and 26 = 1⁄4, the rest = 1⁄2 real size.
One of the copper daggers was mounted in a handle of withes, the remains of which are still to be seen (No. 2), and strongly reminds one of the flint daggers when similarly mounted, as seen in No. 28. As ornaments from this station I have figured a fossil ammonite and a smooth stone, both perforated (Nos. 27 and 19). Two fossil shells, an ammonite ([Fig. 185], No. 23), and pectunculus, are described in the Ninth Report on the Pfahlbauten (B. 462) as coming from Oefeliplätze.
Hauterive.—Opposite the village there was a very large settlement, which has yielded a considerable number of antiquities of a mixed character, chiefly dispersed among the Museums of Neuchâtel, Bern, Bienne, and Zürich. Col. Schwab found two iron spear-heads and pottery. After Schwab's investigation, Desor searched the station and found a steinberg. Among the more interesting objects are:—a small figure shaped like a duck and ornamented with strips of tin ([Fig. 195], No. 13); a vase, also ornamented in the same way ([Fig. 193], No. 6); a disc of bone ornamented with concentric circles, and some bronze pendants ([Fig. 189], Nos. 13, 14, and 16). In Bern there are four pins with large heads, and several tanged knives, sickles, bracelets, pendants rings, fish-hooks, etc.; also dishes of fine black pottery with round bottoms.