Clay.—The fragments of pottery indicated dishes of a plain shape, generally cylindrical, and rarely ornamented, but smeared over with a black sooty substance (Nos. 17, 18, and 19). Spindle-whorls of burnt clay (Nos. 12 and 13), and large clay balls, perforated, probably loom-weights.
Wood.—A plank of oak 7 or 8 feet long and 1½ foot wide is supposed to have been a working bench. Another board, also of oak, was like a round table, and measured 2½ feet in diameter and 2½ inches thick.
Organic Remains.—The most remarkable feature, however, of the settlement at Wangen was the quantity of charred corn dug up from its débris. Mr. Löhle believes that altogether, and at various times, he has collected as much as 100 bushels. Sometimes he found the entire ears, at other times the grain only; but always in a charred condition. The two-rowed barley and two kinds of wheat could be readily identified. Cakes of bread showing roughly-crushed grain, wild apples and pears—all, of course, in a charred condition, otherwise they would not have been preserved from decomposition. In some places there were large quantities of the husks of pine-cones, apple-cores, beech and hazel-nuts, as well as the seeds of raspberries and brambles. From the quantity of apple-cores found in one place it has been suggested that the lake-dwellers made some kind of liquor of fruits. Flax in all stages of manufacture, from the crude bundles of stems with the seed-vessels still attached, to the yarn, and a variety of beautifully-woven cloth. Quantities of moss, rushes, bark of trees, straw, etc., were also collected. These antiquities were not promiscuously all over the area of the settlement, but each group had a well-defined area for itself, from which Mr. Löhle inferred that the different trades were kept apart.
Bones were not numerous, but among them the following animals are represented:—Urus, aurochs, stag, roe, wild boar, wolf, fox, and dog.
In one part of the settlement Mr. Löhle observed some piles that had become bent and twisted like the letter S, evidently from superincumbent pressure; and in these places some additional piles had been inserted by way of support.
No metal objects were found, nor any support-rings of clay, nor discoidal stones. (B. 22, 34, 35, and 40.)
Oberstaad.—Starting from Wangen, we shall now make a circuit of the Untersee, briefly noting its various stations as we move along. The number now amounts to upwards of 20, and their respective positions can be ascertained from the accompanying Sketch Map ([page 129]). Below Wangen, the first we come to is in the bay between Oberstaad and Kattenhorn. From its widely scattered remains this station appears to have extended over a large area; but its piles are sparingly seen, and its site has been little investigated. The relics found are a few stone celts and pottery.
Hof bei Stein.—A little below the bridge which crosses the outlet of the Rhine at Stein there is a shallow part of the river known as "Auf dem Hof," which on rare occasions, when the water is low, becomes exposed. This was the case on two occasions within the memory of persons now living, viz. in 1858 and 1883. On the last of these dates Mr. B. Schenk, naturalist, of Stein, discovered that it contained the remains of a pile-dwelling buried in the mud. The piles in this structure were strong and firmly fixed, and among them were some transverse beams, and others slantingly placed, as if to protect the structure against the stream. Notwithstanding the difficulty of working here, Mr. Schenk collected a large number of the industrial remains of its inhabitants, such as flint implements, about 150 stone axes (three of which were of nephrite), and a perforated stone disc like a large spindle-whorl, measuring 2¾ inches in diameter, and 1½ inches thick. Perforated stone axes were rare, but some of them are of interest, especially a portion of one made of basalt. There were also worked objects of horn and bone, remains of linen cloth, thread, and a woven fabric made of bast. Noteworthy among bone objects is the scapula of a deer perforated with a round hole, and having its central ridge rubbed off, so as to make it into a polishing implement. An urn-shaped vessel 12 inches high is preserved in the Zürich Museum. A few metal objects are also recorded, viz. a small copper celt 2¾ inches long, also a bronze ring and a bronze hatchet. Bones representing the ox, pig, stag, roe, bear, and beaver. (B. 462; Antiqua, 1883, p. 68.)
LAKE OF CONSTANCE
