Part 14

IRGENHAUSEN.--Only one other settlement has been recognised as a true lake-dwelling in this lake-basin, viz. Irgenhausen, situated about half an hour's walk to the east of Robenhausen. The station ran parallel to the shore for a distance of about 300 feet, with a breadth of only 30 feet. The relics found on it are similar in character to those from Robenhausen, the most remarkable of which are specimens of embroidered cloth and checked muslins. (B. 126, Pl. xvi. Fig. 2 and 2a.) Messikommer believes that only one row of cottages occupied this site. Almost the whole site of this lake-dwelling has disappeared into the depths since 1881, and can no longer be found.[23] Only a yawning deep (_eine gähnende Tiefe_) is now to be seen where formerly stood the remains of the Pfahlbau. This phenomenon is, however, not singular in the Swiss lakes, as evidence of which we have the recent catastrophe in Lake Zug, which demolished not only the site of a prehistoric lake-dwelling, but also a large part of the town of Zug.

Close to the water's edge on the south shore, and about ten minutes' walk directly north of Robenhausen, there is an artificial mound called Himmereich, which formerly was supposed to be the site of a pile-dwelling. It is constructed of small and large stones, among which flint saws, arrow-points, and pottery of the lake-dwelling type, were found associated with Roman tiles and pottery (_terra sigillata_). There were, however, no piles or any evidence of structural dwellings, and the opinion now generally held in regard to it is that it was a pre-Roman Refugium, which subsequently fell into the hands of the Romans.[24] Remains of a Roman station are also close to Irgenhausen, which might have something to do with the Himmereich mound. (B. 462.)

The records of the numerous discoveries made at Robenhausen from time to time, according to the favourableness of the weather, are, like the relics themselves, widely scattered. In addition to the reports of Keller and J. Messikommer (B. 22, 34, 40, 61, 126, 336, and 462) in the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Zürich, we have a number of further notices in various journals, such as _Anzeiger_, _Antiqua_, _Das Ausland_, etc. (B. 143a and 143b, 154, 256, 383, 385a and 385b, 402, 403, 406c and 406d, 434c, 449b, 454b, etc.), from which more or less important information is to be gleaned.

EGELSEE, NEAR FRAUENFIELD.

NIEDERWYL.--The settlement of Niederwyl was situated in a small basin covering only about 60 acres, which, though now entirely overgrown with peat, must have been formerly a lake, as its ancient name Egelsee implies. Immediately to the south there is an open valley, from which it is separated by a narrow ridge of land, through which its proprietors made a deep excavation for its better drainage, thereby facilitating the removal of the peat. While the peasants were thus occupied, they came upon a portion of the basin near its centre, where the peat began to thin out; and as they advanced, it turned out that there was something like a mound entirely submerged in the peat, and composed of clay, wooden beams, stones, charcoal, and all sorts of rubbish. On the centre of this mound the depth of peat was only 2 or 3 feet, while all around it amounted to 8 or 10 feet. This curious elevation was simply passed over by the workmen after removing its covering of peat; and so it remained exposed, till one day the Reverend Mr. Pupikofer happened to pass along the moor, when he recognised its archæological importance. This was in 1862, and immediately the Historical Society of Thurgau arranged to have the matter investigated; and Mr. Jacob Messikommer, whose experience of the lake-dwelling at Robenhausen had made him an authority on such matters, was asked to conduct the necessary researches. Upon making sections through the exposed part of this mound, he found an artificial sub-structure of faggot-sticks, laid transversely, and mixed with upright piles which penetrated to the original lake-bottom. It was fortunate, however, that the whole of the mound had not been bared of peat, and Messikommer wisely selected an undisturbed portion for his subsequent excavations. The following quotation from his report will convey a better idea of these structures than any abstract I could make:--

"When I began the excavation with a few workmen on the 18th of June, I was surprised to find, under a pavement of clay and gravel, from 2 to 4 inches thick, and from the top of which 3 feet of peat had been removed, a structure of faggot-sticks, regularly laid and perfectly solid; and as the wood was exceedingly soft, we had to use every care in uncovering as large a portion of it as we could. We first bared a space, which was in perfect condition, 20 feet long, 6 feet wide at the ends, and 10 feet wide in the middle. The upper platform was of split timber or boards of oak, laid down with great care, and it rested on round timber, or faggot-sticks, from 3 to 4 inches in diameter, which were surrounded with piles. The back part of the space was covered with charcoal, and was somewhat charred; there were also found tolerably large stones (hearth-stones) in their original position. A most striking fact was that the lowest part of the side wall was still standing; it consisted of a kind of shutter pushed in between the upright piles surrounding the space. On this I had other portions uncovered, and everywhere met with the same construction, only differing in having the platform or floor made of faggot-sticks instead of boards. Here and there the floor had sunk considerably, often one or one inch and a half in six inches.

"This place was then left to be examined by the members of the associations of Thurgau and Zürich, and excavations were made in another place to examine the sub-structure. The result proved no less interesting; for 1 foot deep, under the first platform, we came upon a second; a foot deeper we found a third; then a fourth, and so on; so that the arrangement is similar to that of Wauwyl. The huts were placed on masses of wood, consisting of five or six platforms, one above the other, the spaces between which were filled in with brushwood and branches of trees, chiefly alder, rushes, gravel, and clay. We were surprised to meet with bones, cones of earthenware, and a great wooden mallet between the platforms; we also found woven cloth under the fifth platform, and charcoal close to the bed of the lake. From this I conclude that the platforms were not made at the same time, but at intervals, one after the other; or that they had been repaired, a portion at a time, as we found single charred stems under fresh wood." (B. 119, 2nd ed., p. 77.)

In another section Messikommer observed a slight variation in the fascine structures above described, which he thus explains: "What I have called the lattice or trellis work consisted of thin stems of trees, which were not laid close together, but at intervals of from one to two inches apart; the uppermost stems rested on others lying under them at right angles, and these again on others parallel with those on the upper layer. The spaces between the timbers were filled in with charcoal and burnt clay."

Each structure seemed to have been adapted for one cottage, as between them there were narrow spaces which had got filled up with _débris_, and contained relics such as broken stone hatchets, carbonised cloth and fruits, etc.

"We cannot imagine," continues Messikommer, "that this settlement was destroyed by fire, for although we occasionally met with burnt beams, not a single trace of conflagration was to be seen in the upright piles, which projected as much as 2½ feet above the floor--nay, even in most of them the bark was still in good preservation.

"The products of the potters art were in general very coarse, and yet we found a few fragments which had been ornamented, and also parts of the rims of vessels made with washed or purified clay, and without quartz grains. Fragments of vessels also were found neatly polished, blackened, and with handles of a convenient form. No smaller implements were met with, such as pins, little chisels, etc. It is very singular that so few bones were found; the cow, stag, and the pig were the only animals the remains of which were discovered here.

"At the bottom of some broken earthenware vessels there still remained grains of wheat and barley and hazel-nuts. Doubtless all the food, whether animal or vegetable, was kept in large or small vessels of earthenware."

Subsequently, on two occasions, Messikommer was asked by archæological societies to give a practical exposition of this interesting _Packwerkbau_ for the edification of their members--once in 1872, when the meeting of the Swiss Natural History Society was held at Frauenfield; and again in 1877, when the German Anthropological Association met at Constance. (B. 406c.)

On all these occasions Messikommer paid particular attention to the size and kind of cottages the lake-dwellers possessed. In 1862, from the stumps of piles protruding through a portion of undisturbed flooring, he estimated the size of the habitable area for each cottage at 24 feet long by 18 feet broad. On these floorings were seen the remains of food and industry, just as fresh as if the people had recently left the place. ("Die Mühle mit Gerste und Weizen daneben, als wäre sie erst gestern noch bewohnt gewesen.") He believes that each cottage possessed not only its own domestic utensils but also its weaving and corn-grinding machines, etc.

The area occupied by the entire settlement was 20,000 square feet, and the nearest shore, when the basin was a lake, would be 30 or 40 yards distant.

The industrial remains collected from time to time at Niederwyl consist of:--Wheat, barley, flax, cakes of bread, wooden implements, clay weights (=Fig. 26=, No. 3), stone hatchets (Nos. 7 and 8), flint saws (No. 1) and scrapers; some well-made dishes (Nos. 4, 5 and 6), one a remarkable jug (No. 6) with handle; another, of black earthenware, had been mended with asphalt. A strip of birch-bark (now in the Museum at Zürich) had been neatly sewn (No. 10). In the same Museum there is a stone (perforated) axe-hammer head which vies in elegance of workmanship with any from Scandinavia (No. 9).

Recently Messikommer has come to the conclusion that the _Packwerkbau_ at Niederwyl existed during the early Bronze Age, as he found a piece of oak wood having cuts which could not have been made by a stone implement. From various considerations of the more recent facts brought to light in the course of his frequent excavations here and at Robenhausen he enunciates the opinion that wherever split oak beams or piles are found we may with certainty conclude that the settlement belongs to the early metal age. ("Man darf mit Bestimmtheit annehmen, dass alle jene Niederlassungen, in welchen gespaltenes Eichenholz in grösserer Menge zum Vorschein kommt, auch das Metall in einfacher [Kupfer] oder zusammengesetzter Form [Bronze] gekannt haben.") (B. 454c, p. 2.)

_Second Station._--Adjacent to the Egelsee basin, and separated from it only by about a dozen paces, is another small peat-basin known as the Riedsee, in which were recently found the remains of a true pile-dwelling. Here for some time fragments of pottery, stone hatchets, horns and bones of various animals, were met with in the peat; but in August, 1884, Messikommer discovered the actual piles associated with the usual objects of a Stone Age dwelling. The area of this Pfahlbau was small, measuring only 13 yards by 10. Its site lay near the margin of the peat, and the antiquities were met with 1 foot under the surface. Among these were a small earthenware dish or cover ornamented with four prominences and a few rows of punctured dots (No. 2), several wooden dishes in all stages of manufacture, entire handles of stone hatchets, worked horn, etc. A crucible similar to those from Robenhausen was also found near the same place.

Among the osseous remains are portions of a skull of the urus with both horn-cores attached. The other animals represented are the bison, stag, ox, pig, goat, etc. (B. 420d.)

GREIFENSEE.

During the winter of 1865-6, when the water was low, Messikommer recognised the site of a pile-dwelling in the Greifensee, near Riedikon, but it has proved of little importance, as only a few objects--some flints and stone celts, fragments of pottery, shells of hazel-nuts, and some grains of barley--were found. Its site was covered with broken stones, and being about 100 feet from the shore, in a depth of 3 or 4 feet even when the water was low, it was difficult to make a satisfactory examination. (B. 126, p. 308.)

Traces of a second station are said to have been observed between Riedikon and the village of Greifensee, near where the Aabach enters the lake. (B. 462.)

HEIMENLACHEN.

Near the village of Heimenlachen, in the Canton of Thurgau, there is a peat-moor covering about 15 acres, in which the peasants while cutting peat were occasionally turning up objects of human industry deeply buried, but they have been either dispersed among the curious or thrown away. A large skull of an ox, supposed to be that of a urus, lay for years exposed among a heap of rubbish, but when subsequently searched for, it could not be found. Among these relics were celts of nephrite, stone hammers, various articles of bone and horn, and some fragments of pottery and basket-work. Mr. Burkhard Raeber, of Weinfelden, drew attention to these current reports, and made some excavations in the moor, in the course of which he discovered numerous piles and some transverse beams which he considered to have belonged to a platform.

Another site in the same moor was discovered in 1875, which yielded similar evidence of a pile-dwelling. The woodwork was not encountered till 4 feet of peat had been removed. Mr. Raeber calculates that the settlement was from 80 to 100 yards in length. (B. 182a, 199, and 336.)

KRÄHENRIED, NEAR KALTENBRUNNEN IN THURGAU.

Mr. Raeber found evidence of the existence of a pile settlement in a peat bog at Krähenried. Here the relic-bed was 5 or 6 feet deep, and contained remains of piles, charcoal, hazel-nuts, fragments of pottery, and a well-made celt of serpentine. The ornamentation on the pottery consisted in many cases of regular rows of dots impressed on a fine quality of paste with a smooth surface. The peat-cutters assured Mr. Raeber that similar objects had been frequently found by them, but, considering them of no value, they were thrown away. (B. 288.)

LAKE OF NUSSBAUMEN.

In an open valley between Stein and Frauenfield there is a chain of three small lakes, the upper of which goes by the name of Nussbaumen. Here there is an artificial island, on which Mr. Morlot had observed piles and other indications of a lake-dwelling, but the matter has never been thoroughly investigated. According to Morlot, this island measures 110 feet by 60 feet, is surrounded by piles, and has a similar appearance to that in the little lake at Inkwyl. (B. 31, p. 84.)

LAKE OF CONSTANCE.

The district around the Lake of Constance appears to have had great attractions for the early lake-settlers. This predilection was no doubt due to the exceptionably favourable conditions which the lake afforded for the construction of their pile-villages, viz. a gently-sloping lake-bottom, with a wide tract of grazing or agricultural land beyond. In every sheltered bay around the Untersee, Ueberlingersee, and lower parts of the Bodensee, traces of these settlements have been found; but owing to the difficulties and expense of investigation they have not yet yielded their due quota of relics.

WANGEN.--The first discovered was that at Wangen. It is recorded that Mr. Caspar Löhle, after reading Kellers first report of the Pfahlbauten, recollected having seen on the shore near his own house similar antiquities to those figured from Ober-Meilen. He then commenced, in the autumn of 1856, to collect them; and when the water was low he made excavations, which by degrees rewarded him with some remarkable remains of human industry. The station was in a small bay to the east of the village, in front of a considerable extent of flat land which intervened between it and the sunny slopes beyond. This bay, owing to its sheltered position, was subject to an unusual deposition of lake sediment, so that in the course of time the _débris_ of the settlement became covered over with 3 or 4 feet of mud and gravel. As this deposition went on, from year to year, the bed of the lake became gradually raised, and the water was displaced, so that at certain seasons, when the water in the lake was very low, the relic-bed of the settlement could be investigated by digging on dry land.

Mr. Löhle, in the course of his extensive excavations, ascertained that the settlement extended in the form of a parallelogram some 700 paces in length and 120 in breadth. The piles were made of round or split stems of various kinds of wood, as oak, beech, elm, birch, ash, fir, elder, maple, and two species of willow. They were thickly placed, sometimes three or four together, and Mr. Löhle calculates that in the entire settlement 40,000 or 50,000 must have been used. The relics collected were very numerous, but they are widely dispersed. The best public collections that I have seen are in the Museums at Zürich, Constance, and Sigmaringen. The following notes and accompanying illustrations (=Fig. 27=) will give a fair idea of their character.

_Stone._--Celts, hammer-stones, grain-rubbers, etc., were in hundreds, and in all stages of manufacture, but the great majority were badly made. Perforated tools were comparatively rare (Nos. 7, 8, 9, and 20). Flint saws hafted in wood (No. 15), and flint arrow-heads and lance-heads, were in tolerable abundance (Nos. 1, 2, and 3). The celts and chisels were made from the ordinary water-worn materials found in the neighbourhood (Nos. 6 and 10), and only a few small specimens were of nephrite and jadeite. Very few had horn fasteners, and the prevalent method of using these implements was to insert the celt into a cleft in a branch with a long handle and a crook at the other end. Slabs for grinding and polishing these celts, as well as others with marks of fire, and supposed to have been used as hearths, were also frequently met with.

_Bone and Horn._--Pointers, daggers, awls, small chisels, and arrow-points were found in large numbers. Some of the bone arrow-heads had still the asphalt adhering to them by which they were fastened to the stems. Also flax-hecklers (No. 4), and a variety of fish-hooks (Nos. 11 and 16).

_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.)