Conjux.—This station is 200 yards from the shore, opposite the village of the same name. A group of piles only 50 yards from the shore is supposed to have been the ruins of a Roman pottery business, on account of the abundance of characteristic ware found among them. A peculiarity of this station is the number of moulds found on it in proportion to the other objects, no less than 13 being recorded up to 1875, representing all manner of industrial implements, as knives, winged and socketed celts, sickles, hammers, pins, rings, and buttons.
Chatillon.—This settlement occupied a sheltered position about 500 feet from the shore. In one part the piles project out of the mud, and are all inclined towards the east at an angle of 45°, but in the rest of the station they are straight. A vessel of earthenware, like the later productions of the lake-dwellers, was found among these piles with the name Severinus stamped on it in Roman characters. (B. 176, p. 24.) Here were found some 40 or 50 of these very remarkable vessels of black earthenware, ornamented with tin strips forming a combination of pleasing designs ([Fig. 193], Nos. 4 and 5); also some fragments of Gallo-Roman pottery, and others of a very early type. Among the relics are eight moulds (one of which is for a lance-head) and about 320 objects of bronze.
Gresine.—The bay of Grésine contains the sites of two settlements—one close to the railway, and the other farther out and of larger extent. The latter appears to have been connected with the Pointe de Grésine, as a gravel bank runs from this part of the shore to the site of the palafitte; and the two stations were connected with a gangway, the remains of which have been traced. The railway just touches the site of the inner station, to which accident the discovery of palafittes in Lake Bourget is due. Although the stations at Grésine have been more frequently searched than any others, owing to their proximity to Aix-les-Bains, they have continued for a long time to be the richest in all kinds of antiquities, carbonised fruits, etc. Among the moulds is one for the handle of a sword on one side, and a buckle on the other. (B. 282, Pl. liv. 2.) No less than five bronze hammers have been found on this station, all of which are socketed and cylindrical in shape. Last summer some remarkable objects were fished up, which I saw in the collection of the finder at the Restaurant Lacustre (Port Puer), some of which are here figured ([Fig. 21], Nos. 4, 6, and 12).
Meimart.—The débris of this settlement lies about 100 yards from the shore, under 16 to 20 feet of water, and hence it has been less searched, although it is of considerable extent, and has yielded a few antiquities, notably a bronze sword, moulds, fragments of pottery, and a Roman vase.
Le Saut.—This settlement, like the others, was on a slight elevation some 110 yards from the shore, and at low water its relics have to be fished from a depth of about 10 feet. The station has been well explored, and it has been observed that the ceramic remains indicate greater technical skill the farther out in the lake they are picked up, and where the piles are seen to project higher above the mud. A piece of timber 22 feet long, with numerous mortises at each end, and a bone harpoon with one barb, like those of bronze from Peschiera, are the only objects which distinguish the antiquities of this station, which in general are very similar to those from Grésine.
Les Fiollets.—A small settlement in 15 to 20 feet of water. The few bronze objects found here are covered with calcareous matter. Some of the pins collected on it are of novel forms, but the most interesting object is a small file, which may be seen in the Museum at Chambery. Mortised beams were also fished up from this station.
Charpignat.—Some piles have been observed near the village of Bourget, but the associated industrial remains, if any, have not yet been revealed.
In 1875 Mr. Perrin made a series of elaborate statistics, by which he estimated the entire number of bronze objects from the palafittes in Lake Bourget at a little over 4,000, and tabulated them in various categories according to their uses, indicating the stations on which they were found, and the museums or collections in which they were then located. (B. 282.) Since then so many additional relics have been recovered from the palafittes that Mr. Perrin's tables can offer no approximation to accuracy; but, nevertheless, they have a certain value in showing the relative frequency of the different objects. I have, therefore, taken the liberty of reconstructing from Mr. Perrin's data the following list of the objects found in Lake Bourget, which gives a better general idea of the culture and civilisation of its lake-dwellers than pages of descriptive details:—
| Grésine. | All Stations. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Founders' | ┏Moulds | 22 | 49 |
| Materials | ┗Ingots and Castings | 46 | 171 |
┏Hammers | 5 | 7 | |
| ┃Hatchets | 19 | 38 | |
| ┃Chisels | 2 | 4 | |
| ┃Gouges | 1 | 1 | |
| ┃Sickles | 7 | 23 | |
| ┃Knives | 35 | 126 | |
| Utensils | ┃Paring Knives (Tranchets) | 4 | 13 |
| and | ┫Razors | 18 | 32 |
| Instruments | ┃Stamp | — | 1 |
| ┃Borers, etc. | 32 | 164 | |
| ┃Saws | 1 | 2 | |
| ┃File | — | 1 | |
| ┃Rivets and Nails | 115 | 248 | |
| ┃Needles | 46 | 190 | |
| ┃Fish-hooks | 38 | 144 | |
| ┗Pincers | 5 | 7 | |
┏Swords | 2 | 3 | |
| ┃Daggers | 9 | 12 | |
| Arms | ┫Lances | 5 | 16 |
| ┃Arrow-heads | 23 | 49 | |
| ┗Shields | 1 | 2 | |
┏Hair-pins | 163 | 798 | |
| ┃Fibulæ | 2 | 2 | |
| ┃Bracelets | 82 | 252 | |
| ┃Torques | 1 | 2 | |
| ┃Finger-rings | 32 | 121 | |
| Objects | ┃Earrings | 4 | 22 |
| of | ┫Girdles | 1 | 1 |
| Ornament | ┃ | ||
| ┃Buckles, Rings, etc. | 140 | 598 | |
| ┃Pendants | 7 | 16 | |
| ┃Clasps | 7 | 50 | |
| ┃Buttons | 35 | 63 | |
| ┃Brackets, etc. | 43 | 185 | |
| ┃Beads | 115 | 488 | |
| ┗Tubes and Spirals | |||
| Diverse Objects | 34 | 108 | |
| Total | 1,110 | 4,002 | |
General Remarks on the Palafittes of Lake Bourget.—Count Costa de Beauregard, in his excellent article on the "Habitations Lacustres du Lac du Bourget" (B. 176), states that the stakes on which these villages were reared were generally of oak, measuring from six to eight inches in diameter, and that they were placed at a distance of 100 to 200 yards from the shore, in a depth of 4 or 5 yards of water. Their lower extremities almost always bore cutting marks, which could only be made by metal tools. The great differences as regards their state of preservation show that the settlements had been occupied for a long time, necessitating the renewal of the piles at different epochs.