(c) Relics.—The relics were of a mixed character, and included the following:—Stone celts and chisels, some of them being still fixed in their horn handles and fastenings ([Fig. 1], Nos. 3, 4, 11, and 15); perforated hammer-axes (Nos. 8, 13, and 17); mealing-stones and polishers (No. 12); various implements made of flint, as scrapers, flakes (No. 1), saws (No. 2), and some rude arrow-points (only one being neatly finished, No. 16); various objects of horn and bone (Nos. 6 and 7); also some wooden clubs, fragments of pottery, spindle-whorls (No. 14), shells of hazel-nuts, etc. Among the relics then collected were a bead of amber (No. 9) and a bronze armilla (No. 10).
After careful consideration of the facts thus brought to light, Dr. Keller came to the conclusion that the piles had formerly supported a wooden platform, that on this platform huts had been erected, and that, after these had been inhabited for a long period, the whole structure had been destroyed by fire.
A knowledge of these discoveries at Ober-Meilen, and of Dr. Keller's opinion in regard to them, soon spread among the surrounding inhabitants, the immediate result of which was a sudden crop of lacustrine explorers, who carried on a vigorous search for similar remains in this and the adjacent lakes. For their guidance were requisitioned all sorts of traditions, stories of submerged cities, of which many abounded, recollections of the occasional finding of implements and weapons of unusual types, etc.; but of greatest service was the local knowledge of fishermen, who, from practical experiences of disasters to their nets and fishing gear, could at once point out numberless localities where large fields of submerged piling were to be found. In the spring of the same year the celebrated station known as the Steinberg, at Nidau, in Lake Bienne, was discovered, as well as numerous other stations in the lakes of Bienne, Neuchâtel, and Geneva; so that before an illustrated account of the Ober-Meilen discovery could appear in the Transactions of the Antiquarian Society of Zürich Dr. Keller had important materials of a similar character from other localities to record. This report, entitled "Die Keltischen Pfahlbauten in den Schweizerseen," appeared towards the close of the year 1854, and at once attracted the attention of archæologists in all countries. Since then lacustrine investigations in search of lake-dwellings have been incessantly carried on, not only in Switzerland, but in many other countries in Europe, with the result that each year has seen an increase in their number, as well as a corresponding enhancement of the archæological value of the materials so discovered.
Fig. 1.—Ober-Meilen. All ½ real size.
Prominent among the early investigators whose names have a claim to be associated with this great discovery which has so popularised the name of the Zürich antiquary were Colonel Schwab, of Bienne, whose splendid collection of lake-dwelling antiquities now adorns his native town; Professor Desor, author of the admirable little treatise "Les Palafittes, ou Constructions lacustres du lac de Neuchâtel," and other works; and Professor Troyon of Lausanne, whose work, "Habitations lacustres des temps anciens et modernes," is so well known. But foremost among them all stood Keller himself, who from time to time, according to the demands of fresh discoveries, issued systematic reports of the Pfahlbauten, of which no fewer than six had appeared previous to the year 1866. In that year was published the English edition of Keller's reports, arranged and translated by Mr. Lee. It is needless to pursue here any further in historical order the various means, whether as publications or investigations, by which Keller's discovery was being pursued, as they come to be dealt with elsewhere. Suffice it to say that within a few years of its publicity, the existence of lacustrine villages all over Central Europe in prehistoric times was fully established.
From these remarks you will have some idea of the work before us in these lectures. It contemplates a critical and summary review of the principal results of the investigations of the lake-dwellings of Europe during the last half-century. This embraces a large geographical area, extending, roughly, from Ireland to Bulgaria, and from Venice on the Adriatic to the shores of the Baltic. Of the very numerous researches to which I shall have to refer, some were conducted by private individuals, others by public or scientific bodies, but all presumably more or less qualified to give a correct report of the facts. The records of successive discoveries have been generally published in the proceedings of local societies, but sometimes in separate monographs of extremely limited circulation. As to the antiquities, some have found their way to dealers, and have disappeared to foreign lands. A large proportion, however, have been carefully preserved in the respective districts or countries in which they were found, and are now located in public museums or private collections, where, as a rule, they are intelligently arranged and duly labelled. In conducting you, as it were, over this wide area, amidst such diversified materials, I shall be guided, to a certain extent, by geographical convenience, even at the expense of historical sequence; and in discussing typical finds I shall, as far as this may be practicable, make use of diagrammatic and pictorial illustrations, believing that even a poor illustration often conveys more information than the most accurate description.
LAKE ZÜRICH.
Further discoveries in Lake Zürich were not so speedily effected as in some of the other Swiss lakes, and for a few years the interest in this subject was transferred to more distant localities. In the following year, 1855, Colonel Schwab visited Zürich and made further researches at Männedorf and Ober-Meilen. From the latter he succeeded in securing a considerable number of objects, especially stone hatchets, some of which were made of nephrite, and a bronze celt of the flat type ([Fig. 1], No. 5).