Fig. 52.—Plan and Section of portion of Torbiera di Mercurago, showing distribution of piles.
Fig. 53.—Cover of Earthenware Vessel (1⁄3).
The peat basin of Mercurago is of an oblong shape, and the antiquities and piles were in a circumscribed place at its northern end, about 130 feet from the bank. Here in a space of 30 feet square, cleared for antiquarian purposes, were counted 22 piles bound together with cross timbers ([Fig. 52]). The superficial deposit of peat was about 6 feet in thickness, and the tops of the piles reached half-way upwards, while their lower ends penetrated from 3 to 4 feet into the lake mud below. Between this mud and the superincumbent peat there was a bed of fern, and lying immediately over it were three earthen dishes in good preservation, one of which appears to be a lid or cover for another dish ([Fig. 53]), together with a large quantity of the broken fragments of others, a bronze pin ([Fig. 60], No. 6), a scraper 4¾ inches long (No. 7), several arrow-heads ([Fig. 54]), and quite a litter of flint flakes, some shells of hazel-nuts, and stones of the cornel cherry, etc.
Fig. 54.—Flint Arrow-heads (2⁄3).
The pottery was made of a blackish paste mixed with coarse grains of sand or quartz, and a few dishes were ornamented with patterns of zig-zag scratches separated by parallel lines ([Fig. 60], No. 13). Some had handles, and others small ears or perforated knobs, two of which had portions of string still attached to them ([Figs. 55] and [56]).