No swords or bronze dishes are recorded from this station; and of three bronze hatchets in the Murten Museum, of the usual winged type, one has the loop transverse to the cutting edge, and a portion of its wooden handle still remains between the wings.
Murten.—This station lies a little above the monument of the battle of Murten. It is of considerable size, and has yielded a large quantity of Stone Age objects, such as large perforated stone axes, staghorn hammers, flint arrow-heads, lumps of carbonised wheat and many other seeds, weaving-weights, and also bits of burnt cloth. The station is now completely worked out. (B. 61 and 462.)
Meyriez (Merlach).—This station belongs to the early Stone period, and no perforated axes are among its relics. Among the few things collected on its site the following may be mentioned:—Bits of cloth, burnt corn, stone hatchet in wooden handle, another hatchet of jade, etc. The woodwork was very rotten, and the piles could hardly be distinguished. A canoe with ribbed floor (now in the Fribourg Museum) was found in the vicinity of the station. (B. 462.)
Greng-Insel.—This settlement was situated at the end of a low tongue of land which projected into the lake, and covered an area of 49,000 square feet. Near the shore the relics were entirely of the Stone Age, but farther out in the lake they became mixed with bronze and even iron objects. During low water, previous to the Correction des Eaux du Jura, a considerable portion of this station could be visited on dry land, but now it is entirely dry. In its vicinity are several stone cairns which have greatly puzzled antiquaries, as no relics have been found on them. Piles were observed in two of them—one lying to the north-east and the other to the south-west of it.
When this station was first investigated (1861-2), it yielded a number of perforated hammers and hatchets (some showing unfinished perforations), six flint knives, corn-crushers, a stone mortar, a bronze ring, a hair-pin, and several implements of iron. (B. 61.)
Subsequently the proprietor, Count de Pourtalès, with the co-operation of the local archæologists, made further excavations, which proved that it essentially belonged to the Stone Age. From Dr. Uhlmann's Report (1865), it appears that the relic-bed was from 1 to 4 feet below gravel and matted roots. The piles were generally of oak-stems as thick as a man's arm or leg, and some were as much as 1 foot in diameter, but when they reached this size they were generally split. They were irregularly set, and penetrated deeply into the mud below. They were of a blackish colour, well preserved, and apparently pointed with stone axes. Among the relics collected were daggers, saws, and arrow-heads of flint, beautifully made ([Fig. 14], No. 9); stone celts, neatly bored; implements of bone, as chisels, pointers, etc., and staghorn haftings.
Fragments of pottery showed two qualities—a reddish thick earthenware, badly burnt, and a finer quality with some linear ornamentation.
The bones turned up were very numerous; among which Dr. Uhlmann recognised those of the following animals:—Urus (a large variety of horned cattle) and the small marsh cow. The sheep-bones indicated a large race with strong horn cores bent backwards and outwards; but those of the goat belonged to a more slender animal; stag, elk, and roe-deer. Amongst the carnivora were the great bear, the teeth of which were perforated for suspension, the dog (larger than at Moosseedorf), fox, hedgehog, and beaver. Bones of the frog, and the scales and bones of a fish, probably a species of pike. Also there were several portions of skulls and other human bones.
Among vegetal remains were hazel and beech nuts, stones of the sloe and birdcherry; seeds of raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries; and carbonised masses of wheat. (B. 126.)
When the station became dry in 1874, in consequence of the drainage-works, it was again investigated by Mr. Süsstrunk, on behalf of the town of Morat and the Canton of Fribourg. Among the objects then found were two flat celts, the composition of which, according to Dr. v. Fellenberg's analysis, was a mixture of carbonate of copper and sulphur, without any traces of tin. Among other things were buttons and haftings of staghorn; a conical stone set in a long hafting of staghorn; some netting-needles of wood, etc. (B. 286.)