Forel.—Little was done to this station till 1883, when the Fribourg Government granted free permission to the searchers for lacustrine antiquities to collect on their portion of the shore of Lake Neuchâtel. Since then many curious objects are reported as coming from this station, but they are mostly held by private collectors. Mr. A. Vouga gives some notes of these discoveries in the Anzeiger. (B. 414.) He states that the relics are found on this station in three different strata, the most superficial of which is 1 foot 6 inches deep, and the lowest 4 feet 8 inches.
Among the objects described and figured by Vouga are:—A stone hatchet in its horn fixture, several hatchets of coloured nephrite and one of green jade, perforated hammers and a cup of horn; knives, pins, etc., of bone; a curved implement made of the jawbone of a stag ([Fig. 13], No. 19). Some remarkable objects made of horn or bone and ornamented with dots, circles, etc., consisting of bracelets (No. 20), and pendeloques (Nos. 13, 17, and 18), have attracted the attention of critics, and the general opinion is that they are forgeries.[15]
Chevroux.—Troyon describes three large settlements of the Bronze Age (B. 31, p. 150), near Chevroux, farther from the shore than a Stone Age settlement, on which were found bracelets, hair-pins, sickles, knives, two swords of bronze, and a great iron fork ([Fig. 13], No. 15). In 1866, an object ([Fig. 191], No. 10), described by Keller as part of an Etruscan chariot, was found near this. (B. 337.)
Fig. 13.—Chevroux, Forel (13, and 17 to 20), and Portalban (21 and 22). All 1⁄2 real size (except No. 15 1⁄4).
In the Museum at Lausanne there is a large collection of objects, both of the Stone and Bronze Age settlements, from Chevroux. Among the former are:—Two beautiful flint daggers with thin handles of wood ([Fig. 13], No. 1), six saws of flint in their handles, part of a wooden comb, three wooden dishes, the club handle of a stone hatchet with the implement still in position, bone pins with neatly-fashioned heads (Nos. 4 and 6), etc. There are over 300 plain stone celts, and 30 perforated tools. About 100 horn fixings, of which one-third have bifurcated tops. Some celts have been identified as belonging to the following substances:—chloromelanite five, three of which are in their horn fixings (two bifurcated); saussurite, 14 to 20, one of which is in its handle (square); jadeite 22 to 25, five in handles (two bifurcated); nephrite 23 to 26, two in their fixings. There are also a few of felsite, amphibolite, etc. About 100 flint arrow-points, and the same number of beautifully chipped flint arrow-heads (No. 5). Also of horn there is a large number of chisels, pointers, hammers, flax-hecklers, and some curiously-shaped perforated clubs of horn.
Among the pottery are some curious dishes, two of which are here figured (Nos. 8 and 14), the latter being adorned with string ornamentation.
Among the objects from the Bronze Age stations are:—Many hair-pins, two phalères, five sickles, a few bracelets, one winged and one flat hatchet, portion of a flat copper celt, a few knives with tangs, six small daggers, and two remarkable pendeloques, one of which is here figured (No. 3).
Mr. Vouga (B. 414d) describes some fine discoveries that were latterly made on the Bronze stations. Among the objects which have come under his notice are:—A razor with a curved handle, 4½ inches long (No. 11); a thick crescent, ornamented with half-moons; a fibula (No. 10); a pin with spiral stem (9½ inches long) and perforated head (1⅛ inch in diameter). Another has a very large head (2 inches diameter), with 24 holes in it (No. 12). Other objects from this station are a comb (No. 9), an amber bead (No. 7), a copper dagger (No. 16), and a copper chisel (No. 2).