Part 17

_Stone._--Flint arrow-points, in great numbers, are of a triangular shape and very neatly made. One or two have still traces of asphalt, by means of which they were attached to the stem (=Fig. 38=, Nos. 10 to 12). Some of them are in an unfinished state, and one is of transparent rock-crystal. Among the flint saws are several half-moon-shaped implements similar to those so frequently met with in the Scandinavian archæological area (Nos. 2 to 4). Some of this type were made with a projection for a handle like the knives used by modern leather-cutters. Lance-heads and scrapers are also numerous and well made. From the presence of a quantity of chips and flint refuse there can be no doubt that all these implements were manufactured _in situ_, a remark which equally applies to the knives (Krummesser) of Danish type, which were made of the same kind of flint, the raw material for which could be readily found in the gravel of the neighbouring streams. Among the ordinary stone implements are about two dozen perforated and highly finished axe-hammer heads (Nos. 13 to 15). The material is often a variegated serpentine. The polished celts amount to nearly 100 specimens, of which the largest is 6¾ inches long and the smallest 1¼ inch. One highly polished circular stone with central perforation might have formed the head of a club (=Fig. 40=, No. 9).

_Horn and Bone._--Of this class of remains, there is a remarkable assortment of chisels (=Fig. 38=, Nos. 16, 27, and 28), pointers, etc., and particularly noteworthy are the double-pronged daggers (=Fig. 39=, Nos. 9 and 12). These are invariably well made and beautifully polished, and some have a groove as if for attaching a string. There is only one staghorn hafting for a celt, and it is bored in the middle for a handle, but the number of perforated hammers of this material is considerable. One triangular arrow-point is of bone (=Fig. 38=, No. 23).

_Metal._--From the commencement of the investigation of this settlement it was inferred, from the finding of a number of coarse crucibles with projecting handles, that its inhabitants were acquainted with the art of smelting. Not only was there a little copper found in the pores of these utensils, but there were, among the wooden objects, some crooked clubs with a slit at the end (=Fig. 185=, No. 14), which could only be used as handles for flat celts such as those generally made of copper. Within the last few years these surmises have been confirmed by the discovery of several metal objects, chiefly of copper, among which are:--14 flat celts (some are in a fragmentary condition) (=Fig. 39=, Nos. 1, 2, and 5), six daggers (Nos. 3, 4, and 6), three spirals, three awls, one fish-hook (No. 14), and two small indefinite objects. Of bronze there are only two articles, viz. a portion of a dagger showing rivet-holes, and a portion of the stalk of a pin.[28]

_Pottery._--The larger vessels are made of coarse clay mixed with sand, and are both clumsy and unornamented, with the exception sometimes of nail marks round the rim. Instead of handles they have perforated knobs below the rim or on the bulge of the vessel. In striking contrast to these coarse dishes are richly ornamented jugs made of a fine paste, and other small dishes with or without handles. The ornamentation is peculiar, consisting of deep broad lines, arranged in a variety of patterns, in which a white chalky substance was inserted, and to retain it better the bottom of the incised lines was sometimes corrugated (=Fig. 40=, No. 6). The colour of this pottery is now greyish, but originally it is supposed to have been black, so that the white ornamentation on a black ground must have had a striking effect. A few objects of clay, in the form of rude figurines, which might be conceived to represent some common quadruped, as a dog, or a pig, or a cow, may also be noted (=Fig. 39=, No. 15).

_Other Objects._--It is somewhat remarkable that in the whole of this large collection there are only three small perforated objects of stone which could be taken for spindle-whorls, and only one clay weight; nor is there anything else that would indicate the art of weaving, with the exception of a few knotted strings and a closely plaited mat made of bast.

The personal ornaments are very various. Perforated teeth, imitations of the claws of birds in white marble (=Fig. 38=, No. 22), and circular plates of marble in the form of buttons, beads, etc. (=Fig. 39=, Nos. 13 and 16). In one place not less than 48 of the latter were brought up at one haul of the dredger, which, when restored in order, reproduce a bracelet (No. 16).

In 1874 Dr. Much discovered a second station at SCHARFLING on the south shore of the Mondsee, but being in deep water, and subject to the deposition of much _débris_ brought down by the Kienbach, the difficulties of a thorough investigation have not yet been overcome.

Of the investigations conducted from time to time in the Mondsee, and the antiquities collected, Dr. Much has given several accurate reports. (B. 223, 257, and 287.)

ATTERSEE (UPPER AUSTRIA).

The first notices of investigations of the lake-dwellings in the Attersee were published in 1871 by Count Wurmbrand and Mr. Simony, and these were continued by the former during the following five years, according as fresh discoveries were made. (B. 200, 201a, 202, 229, and 276.) There were five settlements in the lake--one, SEEWALCHEN, near the outlet; two, ATTERSEE and AUFHAM, on the west shore; and two, WEYEREGG and PUSCHACHER, on the east shore.

SEEWALCHEN.--This settlement formed an irregular quadrangle, some 500 by 180 feet, and distant from the nearest shore between 200 and 300 feet. The water here is about 5 feet deep, and though clear, no relics or piles are visible, as the _débris_ are covered over with a bed of gravel, which had to be removed by dredging. The piles were round timbers 6 to 8 inches in diameter, and 3 to 4 feet apart, which penetrated so deeply into the shell-marl that it was with difficulty any of them could be pulled up. The relic-bed was a blackish conglomerate of organic _débris_, about a foot thick, and greatly compressed by the superincumbent gravel. Count Wurmbrand does not think this settlement had been destroyed by fire, as the usual symptoms of such a catastrophe are entirely wanting. The antiquities, though numbering among them a few metal objects, are essentially of the Stone Age, among which the following are the most typical.

_Stone._--The arrow-points of flint are all triangularly shaped, no example with a central stem having been discovered. One remarkable object is a small knife-flake of obsidian. Stone celts (a few perforated and mostly broken) were made of diorite, greenstone, granite, hornblende, etc., but none of nephrite. Grinding and polishing stones were abundant.

_Horn and Bone._--Of these materials there were pointers (some with double prongs), chisels, scrapers, but none of the haftings for celts, such as those so frequently met with on the sites of the Swiss lake-dwellings; some bone rings, probably intended for beads, and others of cannel-coal.

_Pottery._--Pottery was not abundant, but judging from its character, Count Wurmbrand thought that it was smeared over with graphite or some colouring matter, and burnt in an open fire. The ornamentation was made with the finger-nail, or with small pointed implements, in the soft clay. Some fragments showed handles and others perforated knobs.

_Metal._--Two small bronze pins, one with conical head, and perforated in the stem a little below the head. It is quadrilateral in its lower two-thirds, and ornamented with dots. The other objects are an awl, sharpened at both ends, a lump of bronze, and two small fragments of iron.

The animal remains belonged to the pig, bear, beaver, ox, and stag.

Among the woods used were fir, lime, beech, oak, hazel, birch, and cornel-cherry.

WEYEREGG.--The station next in importance is Weyeregg, about a third of the way up the lake. It has yielded well-made bone implements, worked tines of horns, perforated boars' teeth, and some finely polished stone hatchets. One is of a sea-green colour like jade, and another has an elegant form (=Fig. 39=, No. 22). Latterly a few metal objects have been found on this station, among which are the two daggers here represented (Nos. 17 and 18). On the remaining stations only a few objects of stone and pottery have been collected, sufficient, however, to show that they were similar to those already described. On PUSCHACHER there were found two half-moon-shaped flint knives (Krummesser) (Nos. 20 and 21), and a round stone ball of polished serpentine neatly perforated, supposed to have been a mace.

FUSCHLSEE.

On the south shore of Lake Fuschl there is a small island of circular form, and about 50 paces in diameter, which, it seems, is of artificial construction, and strikingly analogous to our Scottish and Irish crannogs. The island, which is a little raised above the level of the water, lies close to the shore, being only separated from it by a narrow ditch or canal, which in the course of time has got filled up with moss and the _débris_ of marsh plants. On digging a hole in its interior there was encountered first a thick layer of moss and heather, and then a mass of decayed wood, chiefly branches of pine and dwarf birch. This mass was kept together by small piles, but around the margin there were stronger piles and a quantity of other beams to be seen. Few antiquities were, however, found on it, and its investigation from this point of view did not seem very encouraging. (B. 257.)

NEUSIEDLERSEE.

Over the vast territory drained by the Danube there are some further lacustrine remains indicative of lake or pile dwellings, but which are probably only a small fraction of what could be revealed with careful and systematic research. In 1872 Jeitteles published a notice of pile structures discovered in the town of Olmütz (B. 221); and more recently at Nimlau, in the same neighbourhood, similar wooden structures were detected in a pond. In this case there were five rows of oak piles associated with cross-beams; each row was five feet apart, and the whole was covered with mud to the extent of nearly two feet.[29]

In 1874 Count Béla Széchenyi (B. 283) made some important discoveries at the south end of the bed of the Neusiedlersee, which can hardly be explained on any other hypothesis than that they were the industrial _débris_ of a lake-dwelling. This is a large lake of brackish water measuring about 72 miles in circumference, but so shallow that in its deepest part it attains only a depth of 10 or 12 feet. It terminates at its south-east side in a swamp called Hanság, ("floating turf"), of greater extent than the lake itself. It appears to be subject to great fluctuations in its extent, so much so that in 1854 its area commenced to decrease till in a few years later its bed became completely dried up. Cultivation of the land occupied by it was then begun, but the water has since returned. It was in 1874, on land reclaimed from this lake in these circumstances, that Count Széchenyi found, scattered over the surface, bits of pottery, stone celts, flint implements, etc. On making systematic investigations of these finds, along with some of his scientific friends, he found that in two spots these relics were met with in greater profusion, and that, corresponding with these productive areas, there was a substratum of blackish mould which became more clearly defined by the rankness of its vegetation. These were supposed to have been the sites of habitation, and accordingly excavations were undertaken to clear up the matter, but they revealed nothing new. Only the same classes of relics were found as on the surface, with the exception of a few bones very much decayed. No piles were observed, and after digging to the depth of about three feet water came into the trenches and so stopped further progress in this direction. About 100 square yards were explored, during which the following relics were collected:--31 perforated stone axes or hammers, of which only two were whole; 96 plain stone axes, of which about two-thirds were well formed, the rest being more or less fragmentary; six stone chisels, and 14 worked stones or polishers, corn-grinders, etc.; a net-sinker and two small beads, together with a few scrapers and flint-flakes; and pottery to the amount of 200 to 300 fragments, among which only three vases were still entire. Illustrations of some of these relics are given on =Fig. 41=, Nos. 1 to 9.

The osseous remains were much decayed, but among them the following animals were identified, viz. stag, urus, ox, pig, and horse (represented only by two teeth).

Flints were comparatively rare, but the stone implements were varied both in form and material, being made of such materials as serpentine, diorite, basalt and schist.

The pottery, though rude, appeared to have been partly made on the wheel, but yet had finger-nail marks and other curved impressions as ornamentation. All sorts of handles were used, from mere perforations for strings to the most perfectly made handle. The paste was mixed with coarse materials.

The non-appearance of piles and organic matter may probably be accounted for by their rapid decomposition from alternate exposure to air and water.

Further notices of these finds were given by Count Wurmbrand (B. 259), Dr. Much (B. 318), and Von Luschan (B. 365).

PILE STRUCTURES IN HUNGARY.

On the right bank of the Theiss, a few miles from the railway-station of Szolnok, and near the village of Tószeg, there is an artificial mound called "Kuczorgó or Lapos-halom," to which, since the meeting of the International Congress at Buda-Pesth, in 1876, much importance is attached on account of the opinion expressed by Pigorini that it is identical in structure with the terramara mounds of Northern Italy. The mound, though now considerably undermined by the river Theiss during the great floods of 1876, is still of considerable extent, measuring some 360 mètres in length, and 100 in breadth, and rising to a maximum height of 8 mètres over the surrounding plain. It is only in times of flood that the waters reach the mound, its usual bed being about 1½ mile distant. When the artificial nature of this mound became known by the section exposed by the floods, some extensive investigations were made to determine its archæological character. The objects collected in these researches were exhibited at the Congress as a special find, and among them were the following (Catalogue, pp. 85-87):--

1. Perforated hammers of staghorn, various pointed implements of horn and bone, perforated teeth of pigs, and a leg-bone perforated in two places, probably a skate.

2. Polished stone celts and perforated hammers, four flint flakes, and one of obsidian, corn-crushers, and various other worked stones.

3. Fragment of a bronze pin, a bronze knife, and a small ingot of bronze.

4. Pottery, showing a variety of dishes, some with handles, etc.; various objects of burnt clay, as a whistle, buttons, a spoon, 18 pyramidal clay weights (perforated), etc.

5. A considerable amount of food refuse, as bones, scales of fish, shells, charred wheat, etc.

When the International Congress was held at Buda-Pesth, Pigorini, Virchow, and Miss Mestorf visited this mound, and made some further researches, which not only confirmed Pigorini in his suspicions about the structure of the mound, but also led his distinguished fellow investigators to accept the main portion of his theory. Upon their return home they[30] published separate accounts of this excursion to Tószeg and the results obtained, from which I must here be content to notice that the following propositions are admitted facts:--

1. The existence of piles and wooden beams was satisfactorily proved, and Pigorini asserts that these corresponded with three different levels, precisely as they occur in the terramara mounds.

2. The materials containing the _débris_ of occupancy were distinctly stratified, forming parallel or undulating layers, amounting to a total thickness of 4 mètres.

3. The antiquities collected represented all ages, including stone celts, bronze and iron implements, and a skate made of the leg-bone of a horse.

Subsequently Dr. Romer gave an account of the excavations conducted at Tószeg previous to the meeting of the International Congress, in an article entitled "Les Terramares en Hongrie," along with which he describes similar deposits at other places, as Nagy-Rév, Szelevény, Keménytetö, and Ásott-halom. In regard to the latter station he remarks that rotten piles were observed in its lowest stratum before Pigorini called attention to their importance. Some of the objects from Ásott-halom were exhibited at the Congress (see Cat., p. 44), and included polished stone axes and hammers, flakes of obsidian, perforated hammers of staghorn, etc. The author concludes his article by stating that the terramara deposits are by no means confined to the valley of the Tisza, as they have already been observed in various other low-lying districts along the Danube, Garam, etc. (B. 316.)

RESEARCHES IN THE LAKES OF CARINTHIA AND CARNIOLA.

In 1864 Professor Ferdinand v. Hochstetter gave a report of researches conducted by him, at the request of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Vienna, in the lakes of Carinthia and Carniola in search of remains of lake-dwellings. (B. 98.) But the results were, in the main, of a negative character, as no traces whatever were found in the lakes of Millstätter, Afritzer, Brenn, and Weissen, in Carinthia; nor in those of Weldeser, Wocheiner, and Zirknitzer, in Carniola. In the latter lake it was confidently expected that lake-dwelling remains would be discovered, as the chronicler Valvasor (1689) relates that in this lake there was an old bridge, whose piles he himself had seen; but upon Von Hochstetter and Deschmann visiting the locality nothing whatever could be seen of this character.[31]

On the other hand, Von Hochstetter believed that he had succeeded in finding traces of these settlements in no less than five lakes in Carinthia, viz. _Wörther_, _Keutschacher_, _Rauschelen_, _Ossiacher_, and _Längsee_. The _Keutschachersee_ is, however, the only one which has yielded positive remains of a sufficiently varied character to render the evidence of Pfahlbauten more than problematical. This small lake, known also as the _Plaschischersee_, which lies to the south of the Wörthersee, contains near its middle a shallow portion which can be readily distinguished from the shore by the rushes which grow over it. The area of the space thus marked out is not great, measuring only 20 fathoms long (Klafter) by 10 fathoms broad, and it is covered by water never less than 4 to 6 feet in depth. Here piles and large beams were seen embedded among stones and mud, but so firmly that they could not be drawn up. Notwithstanding the difficulty of examination, some relics of human occupancy were collected. These, which were subsequently augmented by a further investigation by Mr. Ullepitsch, of Klagenfurt, are deposited in the museum of that town; they consist of portions of half-burnt clay with the impression of wattling, and are supposed to be part of the walls of a cottage. There are also one or two fragments of black and grey pottery, one of which is ornamented (=Fig. 41=, No. 10); a sharpening or grinding stone; a bit of staghorn, together with charcoal; heaps of shells (_Adonta_); hazel-nuts, and portion of a wooden pile.

Dr. v. Hochstetter draws attention to the extraordinary number of submerged cairns which he discovered along the shores of the Wörthersee and Ossiachersee. On the eastern shore of the latter he counted no less than 29. These cairns are about 6 feet high, with a diameter of 15 to 20 feet, and their tops are generally covered with 4 to 6 feet of water. It will be remembered that similar cairns were observed in Lake Morat.

The only other place which suggested the existence of lake-dwellings was the "Laibacher Morast," in which, a few years previously, a couple of canoes, and some other industrial relics, were dug out of the peat, the full significance of which only now became apparent. Since then the vast morass has yielded a large quantity of the _débris_ of these settlements, which I shall now proceed to describe.

LAIBACH MOOR (CARNIOLA).

What is known as Laibach Moor is an extensive but irregularly shaped plain now nearly all well cultivated, which extends southwards from the town of Laibach to Ober-Laibach, some 12 miles distant. Previous to a series of drainage schemes, executed at various times during the last fifty years, the whole of this plain was a morass or peat bog, and there can be no doubt that in prehistoric times it was a navigable sheet of water. It covers an area of about 85 English square miles, and is interspersed here and there with six or seven rocky eminences, which, when the locality was under water, formed so many islands. It is also intersected by the rivers Laibach, Isca, and some smaller streams, which unite before reaching the town of Laibach, and about half way up it is crossed by the railway to Trieste. Some years ago a new road was constructed along the valley of the Isca, from Laibach to Brunndorf, and in 1875, in the course of excavating a ditch alongside of it, various bone implements and fragments of pottery were turned up by the workmen. Mr. Martin Peruzzi, the proprietor, recognising the archæological value of these objects, at once gave information of the discovery to the authorities of the Landesmuseum at Laibach. This led to an extensive series of investigations, which were continued during the following two years under the care of Dr. Karl Deschmann, curator of this museum. An illustrated report of the first year's operations was published by the eminent archæologist, Baron von Sacken (B. 290), while those of the two following years have found an able exponent in Dr. Deschmann. (B. 302 and 317.)

The first year's working revealed the foundations of a pile-dwelling close to the road on its west side, where, by the removal of some 3,000 square yards of peat, quite a forest of piles was disclosed. These were irregularly placed, but on an average they numbered three or four in a dozen square feet. They were made of aspen, poplar, elm, and fir, the last, however, being sparingly used. The peat was about 6 feet thick, and below it was the ancient sediment of the lake into which the piles were driven, their heads now merely entering into the peaty stratum. Between the peat and lake sediment there was a thin layer of organic _débris_, 4 or 5 inches thick, in which alone the relics of the lake-dwellers were found. In the following year some 2,000 square yards were cleared of peat, partly in the same place, and partly on the other side of the road. In this new locality the piles were more closely set and the deposit of peat was a little thicker, but the character of the relics was exactly the same, only a larger proportion of the fragments of pottery were ornamented.