Fig. 189.—Pendants, Ornaments, etc., of Bronze and Tin. Nos. 1 to 3, and 17 to 20 = 1⁄3, and the rest = 2⁄3 real size.
Fibulæ were not quite so rare as the torques, and they appear to have been pretty equally distributed over the lake-dwelling area, both north and south of the Alps. Though well represented at Peschiera, their existence in the true terramara deposits is still a matter of contention among archæologists. From a glance at the various examples given in our illustrations ([Fig. 3], No. 20; [Fig. 6], Nos. 4, 9, and 10; [Fig. 12], Nos. 4, 12, 14, and 26), etc., it will be seen that they occupy an intermediate place between the straight pin and the more highly developed and elaborate forms found among relics of later ages.
Pins are the most common objects among the industrial remains of the lake-dwellings, the total number found in the Swiss stations alone being approximately over 10,000. Their principal function was to adorn the hair, but no doubt some were used for other purposes, such as the fastening of garments, and so they took the place of the fibulæ. They are extremely varied in size and style of manufacture, being of all grades from an inch up to 30 inches in length, and from the simple unadorned stem with a mere knob for a head up to the highly decorated examples so numerously represented in our illustrations, such for example as those with massive heads in the form of a hollow globe ([Fig. 13], No. 12), or cup ([Fig. 3], No. 9), or expanded disc ([Fig. 10], No. 24). Some had a loose ring for a head, to which in some instances bits of chains were attached ([Fig. 3], No. 6). In Lake Bourget a few were found with flat wheel-shaped heads ([Fig. 189], Nos. 4 and 5).
Bronze combs are fairly well represented both in the terremare and the lacustrine dwellings. They are almost invariably small, with a single or double row of teeth. Clasps for girdles like the one figured from Bourget ([Fig. 20], No. 25) are in the Gross collection, as well as a few others of a slightly different form. Buttons, studs, chains, finger-rings of single or more coils, earrings, glass and amber beads are also so numerous and widely spread as to show that they were not merely exceptional objects among the lake-dwellers.
Several bronze dishes, not exceeding a dozen in all, have been found on several of the Swiss stations. They are in the form of small wide-mouthed cups of beaten bronze, with or without handles, and often ornamented with slightly raised knobs of repoussé work ([Fig. 10], No. 20), or like small jars of cast bronze ([Fig. 3], No. 22, and [Fig. 6], No. 2). Fragments of larger dishes, like the Etruscan situlæ made of thin sheets riveted together, with massive handles also attached by rivets, have been found at Wollishofen ([Fig. 4], Nos. 17 and 22).
Gold is only sparingly met with, and the objects are generally small or fragmentary. In this condition specimens of the precious metal are among the relics from Nidau, Moeringen ([Fig. 189], No. 8), Auvernier, Concise, Cortaillod, Montilier, Wollishofen, and Lake Bourget, etc. A few objects are of tin, the most frequently met with being small wheels with four, five, or eight spokes, which are recorded from several stations, portion of a ring and a bracelet from Montilier ([Fig. 188], No. 3), a small bar pierced with 16 holes from Corcelettes ([Fig. 189], No. 12), and a pendant from Auvernier (No. 7), a small cross from Lake Garda ([Fig. 64], No. 26), etc. Tin is also represented in small ingots and, as we shall afterwards more particularly notice, it was used to decorate the inside of various dishes of earthenware.
To these industrial objects, many of which had their prototypes in the Stone Age, we have to add a variety of appliances for carrying on the metallurgical art. Stone anvils gave place to bronze ones, and of these the most remarkable is that from Wollishofen ([Fig. 4], No. 21). Moulds were generally made of sandstone or hardened clay, the former being the most numerous, and specimens may be seen in all the collections from the stations both north and south of the Alps. It will be recollected that the two valves of a mould for a winged celt made of bronze were found at Morges at a very early stage in lacustrine investigations ([Fig. 17], No. 8). For many years this apparatus remained as a solitary and unique example of this kind of mould, but now three other valves, similar to those from Morges, have been found, one on each of the stations of Auvernier, Corcelettes, and Estavayer ([Fig. 9], No. 22). Crucibles are abundantly represented. They are of various shapes and sizes, sometimes with a solid handle, as those from Rohenhausen and St. Blaise, and at other times with a short projection having a perforation through which a wooden stick could be inserted as a handle ([Fig. 184], No. 3, and [Fig. 45], No. 14). As further evidence that the founder practised his art in situ we have various records of the finding of ingots of copper, tin, and lead; also slag, defective castings, scoriæ and refuse of smelting furnaces. In the Gross collection there is a circular cake of tin with a small ring for suspension similar to a leaden cake figured from Wollishofen ([Fig. 4], No. 23). The huge mass of copper in the form of a double celt ([Fig. 186], No. 10) was probably for the same end, and not intended as an implement at all.
In Dr. Evan's collection there is a remarkable bronze knife ([Fig. 190]) from Bourget, having the handle and blade made of one solid casting, which appears as if it had just been freshly extracted from the mould. It has evidently undergone no subsequent polish, and still retains a thin irregular rim all round, corresponding with the junction of the two halves of the stone mould.