Fig. 31.—Nussdorf, Maurach, Lützelstetten, etc. No. 24 = 1⁄4, 26 and 27 = 1⁄8, and the rest = 1⁄2; real size.
Nussdorf.—The settlement at Nussdorf covered about three acres in the form of a parallelogram. The piles are mostly round, generally about two feet apart, but sometimes in groups. This station was the first discovered by Mr. Ullersberger, in 1862, and is important for the number of antiquities it has yielded of the pure Stone Age. Dr. Lachmann describes the early investigations and discoveries with great minuteness. (B. 126.) Among the flint objects were about 100 specimens of arrow-points and lance-heads ([Fig. 31], Nos. 1 to 5), in all gradations of sizes, and 80 saws, piercers, and knives. The saws were in general 3½ inches in length and 2 wide, and eight still retain their handles. Stone celts, chisels, and hammer-axes (No. 20) numbered about 1,000, and of these about 50 celts were made of nephrite. Horn fixings were used for some of the celts; but there were wooden handles with a cleft, which showed that they were hafted in a variety of ways. The perforated axes were comparatively rare, only about 50 being in the collection. The perforations are both circular and oval.
Clay spindle-whorls (Nos. 14 and 15) and loom-weights were well represented, but pottery was both scarce and of indifferent quality. Of bone and horn there were several hundred objects, including chisels (No. 8), awls, daggers (Nos. 11 to 13), various kinds of pins (No. 10), three combs (Nos. 6 and 7), 16 perforated hammers of staghorn (No. 23), perforated teeth, a fish-hook of boar's tusk (No. 22), etc.
Maurach.—About half-way between Nussdorf and Unter-Uhldingen lies the site of the famous station at Maurach. It was discovered during the winter of 1862-3, and was among those investigated by Mr. Ullersberger. It appears that in 1839 a dam or dyke was built here, which covered a portion of the area occupied by the lake-settlement, so that it could only be partially explored. The piles came close up to the shore, but stretched out into the lake for about 1,000 feet, covering some 8 acres. According to Dr. Lachmann, the antiquities, about 600 of which were collected, were precisely similar to those from Nussdorf. Stone axes were met with in all stages of manufacture, but hardly any pottery. A flattened bead of amber and four copper celts ([Fig. 31], Nos. 16 to 19) are the only further noteworthy objects included among those from the earlier investigations. (B. 126.)
It was not till 1880, when the dyke above referred to was being repaired, that the special feature which now characterises this settlement became known. Among the stone hatchets then found were nearly 500 of nephrite, of which two-thirds were tolerably well made. But more interesting is the fact that nephrite was found in the crude state, in the form of unworked bits and chips, from the size of a finger-nail up to 3 inches in length and 2 inches in breadth; so that there can be no doubt that this material was worked on the spot. These later finds have gone chiefly to the Rosgarten Museum. Mr. Leiner, writing in 1882 (B. 381), states that from the various stations on the Ueberlingersee he received 800 nephrite, 12 jadeite, 11 chloromelanite, and one saussurite, hatchets or chisels.
Unter-Uhldingen.—Dr. Lachmann describes two settlements which have left their remains near the village of Unter-Uhldingen, about 1,000 feet from the shore and nearly a mile apart, and each covering about 8 to 10 acres. On the other hand, Mr. Böll makes mention of only one station, which he characterises as the largest in Lake Constance, covering some 30 acres. Both stations contained several well-defined steinbergs—three in one and four in the other—in which were cross-beams binding the piles together, like the steinberg at Nidau. The relics belong to all ages, and indicate a continued duration from the Stone Age down to the Roman period, if not even for some centuries later. The Stone Age relics are similar to those found on the other stations in the Ueberlingersee. Dr. Lachmann describes among the flint saws one 9½ inches long. The celts, chisels, and axes numbered about 300, and the spindle-whorls 40. Pottery was more abundantly met with here, and better made, than in any of the other stations. About 130 fragments and whole dishes indicate a great variety of vessels—cups, jars, vases, covers, etc. Some had handles, and others were ornamented in a variety of ways ([Fig. 32], No. 27); and, besides the Bronze Age pottery, there were bits of red earthenware, the well-known Samian ware (terra sigillata) of the Romans.
The special feature, however, of this station lies in the number of bronze objects it has yielded. In the Ullersberger collection Dr. Lachmann describes six lance-points (No. 17); 16 hatchets with wings (Nos. 2 and 3), two with sockets (No. 1), and a few of the flat type (Nos. 29 and 30); 25 knife-blades (Nos. 9 and 12); four armlets, two ornamented (Nos. 21 and 22); some sickles (No. 23), fish-hooks (Nos. 18 and 19), rings, and more than 100 hair-pins (Nos. 4 to 8, 14, 24, and 25). Also about 40 objects of iron, including a few lance (No. 26) and arrow-heads, one axe, several knives, two pruning-hooks (No. 11), some iron rings, a fibula (No. 15), portion of a two-edged sword, a short sword with a wooden handle, an implement like a fork, a pair of pincers, etc. Besides these, there is another collection of similar implements of bronze and iron in the Museum of Friedrichshafen. Among the iron objects here are two of the so-called pruning-knives (Hippen), a hammer-axe, two harpoons, some arrow-heads and rings, a fibula (La Tène type), six horseshoes, a dagger, and a girdle-hook.
Here, as well as at Sipplingen, a quantity of well-made glass was found on the site of the settlement, consisting chiefly of the bottoms of goblets of a greenish colour, which, according to Mr. Hofrath Klemm, of Dresden, belonged to the sixth or seventh century after Christ. Very few objects of bone and horn were found at Unter-Uhldingen.
