Part 48

In the Museum at Brunswick, in Germany, I noticed three of these rings, one of which is almost identical with the one from Morges, differing from it only in the details of the ornamentation; but of their history and origin nothing seems to have been known. Another is in the Museo Civico, at Turin, as well as a large circular ring like that from the lacustrine station at Wollishofen (=Fig. 188=, No. 2), both of which have been figured by Gastaldi. (B. 294, Pl. xii.) I believe it more probable that these large circular rings, though generally considered to be bracelets, were used for the same purpose as the reniform rings. Among the objects in the prehistoric and Roman collection of antiquities in St. Ulric, at Regensberg (Ratisbon), there is a large hollow ring of bronze, ornamented with three lines of concentric circles, which measures six inches in external and three inches in internal diameter, thus leaving one and a half inch for the thickness of the ring. It was found, along with several other things, in a pre-Roman grave (_Hügel-grab_) near Velburg.

(4) The clay images of animals found on several stations in different parts of the lake-dwelling area, as well as those of the terremare (=Fig. 84=, Nos. 23 and 24), and more especially the human images from Laibach, are probably idols. On =Fig. 195=, along with four clay figures from the lakes of Neuchâtel and Bourget (Nos. 9, 10, 13, and 14), I represent two of bronze (Nos. 15 and 16), which I noticed in a collection from Bodmann, in the Steinhaus Museum, at Überlingen. One of these was evidently used as a pendant, and the other appears to have been intended for a human being. The clay figures from Laibach (Nos. 5 to 8), though fragmentary, are undoubtedly representations of the human body. Nos. 5 and 6 represent the back and front view of the trunk of a female, while No. 7 shows a human body with a prominent nose. These two figures are hollow in the interior, and richly ornamented exteriorly with designs which are supposed to be imitations of embroidered garments. Another of these human figures from Laibach, as well as the image of a small animal, is represented on =Fig. 42=, Nos. 11, 23 and 24.

The extraordinary number of implements and chips of nephrite found at Maurach, and the equal predominance of flint refuse and implements in all stages of manufacture at some of the other stations, as Wallhausen, Nussdorf, etc., suggest the idea that the various industries prosecuted by the inhabitants of the lake-villages had already developed to such an extent as to become localised in certain centres. Again, the localisation of certain industries, as comestibles in one place, flax in its various preparatory stages in another, the complete kit of foundry tools in a third, etc., all point to the knowledge and practice of the principles of the division of labour.

That the lake-dwellers kept up commercial relations with foreign countries is proved by their possessing materials, not only peculiar to distant or limited areas, such as amber, jade, flint, etc., but also certain objects having such peculiarities in form or style of ornamentation as have enabled experienced archæologists to trace them to their original areas of evolution. Thus at Corcelettes were found an ornamental bronze dish, and portion of a fibula (=Fig. 189=, Nos. 19 and 20), which, when seen by Montelius in the Museum at Lausanne, were at once recognised by him as of northern origin. (B. 348.) Dr. Keller has also shown, as already stated, that certain bronze objects found in the Lake of Neuchâtel, which for a long time remained a puzzle to archæologists, belonged to an Etruscan carriage or biga. The few fibulæ found in the Swiss lake-dwellings have also been traced to their native habitats in Northern Italy.[141] The half-moon-shaped flint knives, so characteristic of Scandinavia and Northern Germany, have been found as far south as the Mondsee, and one solitary representative (=Fig. 34=, No. 20), now in the Museum of Natural History at Stuttgart, is said to have come from Schussenried station.

One notable fact about the distribution of lake-dwellings is that their relics conform in style, ornamentation, and general characteristics, to contemporary antiquities in the surrounding districts; and I find no special characters in their industrial remains that bind the lake-dwellers together as one clannish people. The relics from the lake-dwellings of the Stone Age in Northern Germany are readily seen to be closely related with those of the Scandinavian archæological area. Whatever the original resemblances and points of agreement of the founders may have been, they were soon modified and adapted to the physical conditions and requirements of their environments.

That continued attention was paid to the rearing and breeding of domesticated animals during the Bronze Age is attested by their osseous remains, which have been critically examined by such competent authorities as Rütimeyer (B. 42), Studer (B. 404), Uhlmann (B. 336), and others. While the lake-dwellers of the earlier Stone Age had only as domestic animals one small species of dog, a small ox, a horned sheep, and the goat, we find that towards the end of this period and during the succeeding Bronze Age not only new and large breeds were developed, but another was added to the list, viz. the horse. From the remains of the domestic horse found at Moeringen and elsewhere it appears to have been a small and slender-limbed animal with small hoofs, and altogether much inferior to the wild horse as hunted and eaten by the cave men of palæolithic times, from which it is supposed to have been a direct descendant. When the Aar canal was being excavated the bones of the smaller or domestic horse were found associated with bronze objects in no less than nine different localities, all of which agree with the above characteristics. (B. 404.) The horse of the terremare, according to Professor Strobel, presents the same characters as that of the Swiss lake-dwellings, and as we have already seen from the bridle-bits and other horse trappings, there can be no doubt it was also in a state of domestication. I may also mention that a skull found at Auvernier was believed by Rütimeyer, after most careful deliberation, to be that of the ass. Professor Strobel has also recognised the osseous remains of the ass in the terremare. (B. 389b.) The sheep diverged considerably from its earlier form, and lost much of its goat-like appearance, being now larger, and developed into various breeds. Still more varied were the breeds of cattle, especially in the vicinity of the lakes of Bienne and Neuchâtel. The Bos primigenius appears to have been tamed and crossed with the earlier type, giving rise to a variety of breeds, such as _trococeros_ and _frontosus_, one of which had wide branching horns, as is proved from its remains found at Concise, Chevroux, Locras, etc. The small dog of the Stone Age (_Canis domesticus palustris_, Rüt.) gave place to a much larger kind, somewhat resembling our modern greyhound. The domestic pig also appears to have passed through various evolutionary phases; but the wild boar still retained its individuality intact. Dr. Uhlmann in his report on the osseous remains from the Grosser Hafner, at Zürich (B. 336), describes three varieties of the pig, as well as three of cattle.

With the exception of the domestic fowl and the tame cat, the domestic animals reared by the lake-dwellers were similar to those now extant. Nor is there much change as regards the wild animals and birds then prevalent. The animals that now frequent the higher Alps, such as the marmot, chamois, and wild goat, are very scarce in the lake-dwellings, showing that already nature had consigned them to the zone of their present habitation. Altogether, with the more improved weapons of the Bronze Age, there ensued, according to Rütimeyer, a marked diminution in the relative proportion of the ordinary wild animals of the chase, and a corresponding increase in those of the domestic breeds. The great wild oxen, the urus and bison, disappeared from the neighbourhood altogether.

Such progressive strides in agricultural pursuits are, however, not discernible in the vegetable remains, notwithstanding the minute investigations of Professor Heer. (B. 123.) From the very commencement the lake-dwelling colonists cultivated flax, two or three varieties of barley and wheat, millet and peas. The only addition that appears to have been made in the Bronze Age were the oat (_Avena sativa_), and the dwarf field bean (_Faba vulgaris_) of a strikingly small size. On the other hand we have to note the absence of winter wheat, rye, hemp, and most of the culinary and garden vegetables. Fruits and berries were largely used as food, but there is no evidence to show that they were cultivated. Among these the following have been identified:--apples, pears, plums, sloes, one or two species of cherry, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries, hazel and beech nuts, water-chestnuts, poppies, etc. Grape-stones from Wangen were hesitatingly included in Professor Heer's list of fruits from the lake-dwellings; but, as already mentioned, this doubt is now diminished by the finding of grape-stones at Steckborn, another station of the Stone Age. Stones of the grape were early recognised among the _débris_ of the palafittes of Lake Garda, and quite recently Mr. A. Goiran has identified those of the olive (_Oleo europæa_) and peach.[142]

Bread was made only of wheat and millet, that of the latter generally containing some grains of wheat and linseed. Cakes made of the seeds of the poppy were also found at Robenhausen.

Various portions of the osseous remains of man, comprising the skull and other portions of the skeleton, have been found in several stations, as Meilen, Wollishofen, Grosser Hafner, Schaffis, Sutz, Locras, Vinelz, Nidau, Wauwyl, Bevaix, Insel Weerd, etc. All these remains have been more or less critically examined and reported on by Virchow (B. 305 and 433), Studer (B. 419 and 432), and Kollmann (B. 420), but notwithstanding a number of minute measurements and learned disquisitions, contradictory opinions are held by these scientists as to the race or races of men that inhabited the lake-dwellings. Dr. Studer advocates the theory of Troyon, that with the introduction of bronze there was also a new race of people, and this opinion he bases on the fact that at Sutz and Vinelz two kinds of human skulls were found, viz. _brachycephalic_ and _dolichocephalic_, whereas in the pure Stone Age stations only _brachycephalic_ skulls were met with. Segments of the upper parts of human skulls supposed to have been used as drinking cups were found at Gerlafingen (B. 392, p. 107), Sutz, Schaffis, and Locras, and from the latter there was also a skull having a circular portion of it cut out, as if trepanning had been performed. (B. 336, p. 31.)

Although it is now pretty well established that in these prehistoric times trepanning was practised as far back as the Stone Age,[143] it does not appear that this skull from Locras (B. 336, Pl. v. 28) had been operated on during the lifetime of the individual. Roundlets, cut out of skulls, are supposed to have been used as charms, and they are frequently met with in the graves of the period. From the lake-dwellings two of these objects have been recorded; one from Concise (=Fig. 185=, No. 20)[144] has two small perforations for suspension, and another, with one hole, is figured by Dr. Gross. (B. 392, Pl. xxiii. 65.) On the Trajan column a Dacian village is represented having human skulls set on poles before the walls. (B. 164.) The finding of skulls of a different race in the lake-dwellings might therefore be accounted for on the supposition that they were trophies of their enemies and not those of the occupiers of the lake-dwellings. Anatomical deductions from the few long bones of skeletons that have come to light indicate, so far as the evidence goes, that the Bronze Age men were of small stature--a conclusion which is also supported by the small size of the handles of the swords and other weapons of the period.

Professor Virchow in a long review of the craniology of the Swiss lake-dwellers comes to the following conclusions (B. 433, p. 300):--

(1) In the stations of the pure Stone Age, brachycephalic skulls only are known to a certainty to have existed.

(2) In the Transition period, both brachycephalic and dolichocephalic are known.

(3) In the full Bronze period the skulls are more inclined to the dolichocephalic type.

(4) The people of La Tène were of a highly mixed character, among whom, however, brachycephalic types predominated.

The eminent Berlin anthropologist thinks that during the Bronze Age a new people joined the original lake-dwellers by degrees, but not as one great immigration subverting the previous order of things. This opinion seems to be greatly strengthened by collateral circumstances. We have already seen how gradually bronze was introduced among the lake-dwellers. No violent disturbance of the previous conditions of life is anywhere to be detected. The original system of constructing lake-villages is continued exactly the same, and the only changes are such as can be accounted for by the use of better implements. The lake-dwellings of the Bronze Age are built in deeper water, and consequently farther from the shore than those of the Stone Age, and the piles are more slender, often stems split into two or four. The steinbergs appear to have been discontinued, or were only used over a hard and stony shore into which piles could not be easily driven. The sites of the latest villages are on the same ground as, or in close proximity to, those of the earliest ones. Remains of cottages are still the same, viz. bits of plaster, with marks of round timbers, and some hearth-stones. From Lake Bourget there are portions of clay plaster of this character, ornamented with incised lines and the impressions of groups of concentric circles (=Fig. 21=, No. 15) or the swastika (=Fig. 195=, No. 12). Also from the same place there are bits of clay tubes, the interiors of which are blackened with soot, supposed to have been small chimneys (=Fig. 184=, No. 8).

In Eastern Switzerland and the Danubian valley the number of stations greatly decreased during the Bronze Age, while in the Lake of Geneva they rather increased, and in Lake Bourget its eight stations belonged almost exclusively to this period.

The stations at Laibach, the Mondsee, Attersee, and Schussenried came to an end in the Transition period, and to the east of Lake Constance only one, viz. that in the Starnbergersee, continued during the Bronze Age. In the lakes of Constance, Zürich, Neuchâtel, Morat, and Bienne, they were also greatly reduced in numbers; but, on the other hand, they occupied larger areas, and show a greater concentration to selected localities, often the outlets of the lakes.

It was not till 1876 that any sepulchral remains bearing on the question--how the lake-dwellers disposed of their dead--came to light. In this year some workmen engaged in digging the foundation for a house in the vicinity of the site of the lake-dwelling at Auvernier, and some 50 yards from the shore, came upon a large flagstone measuring 5¼ by 4¼ feet, which turned out to be the covering of a stone coffin containing the remains of 15 or 20 skeletons. The grave was constructed in the usual way by setting four large flags on edge, which formed its sides, and over them a fifth was laid as a covering. These upright flags were of granite and gneiss, and the largest measured 6¼ feet long, 6 feet wide, and 11 inches thick. The rectangular space thus enclosed measured 5 feet 3 inches long, 3 feet 8 inches wide, and 5 feet 10 inches deep. Dr. Gross, who superintended the clearing out of its contents, states that the bodies had been placed in a sitting posture round the grave, with the heads to the walls and the feet directed towards the centre. External to this cist, on two of its sides, there was another series of upright flags, which formed two smaller chambers, and in one of them there were also human bones.

The relics associated with this burial consisted of some perforated teeth (boar, bear, and wolf); a small polished bone disc, perforated (=Fig. 196=, No. 3); two small stone celts--one with a perforation for suspension in the end opposite the cutting edge. Of bronze objects, found actually in the grave, there were only three, viz. a plain pin 6¼ inches long (No. 1), a small ring (No. 6), and a bead which looked like copper (No. 2).

Six feet to the east of this tomb, and about the same depth, the workmen subsequently came upon the skeleton of a child buried simply in the earth without any stone coffin, and near it were found the following objects:--Two pairs of small oval bracelets (Nos. 4 and 5), a curious pendant like a stud (No. 7), and an amber bead.

Two of the human skulls were sent to Rütimeyer, who pronounced them to be of the _Type de Sion_, and identical with those he had already examined from several lake-dwellings at Nidau, Meilen, Robenhausen, and Wauwyl.

From these data it would appear that the tomb of Auvernier belonged to the Transition period. (B. 286.)

In 1876 and 1877 several interments were found near the quay at Montreux, some with, and some without, stone cists, and along with them were associated various relics, as bracelets (Nos. 10 and 11), hair-pins (Nos. 12 and 13), some pottery ornamented with geometrical figures (No. 14), flint knives, a small stone crescent, and a horse's tooth much smaller than those of our modern horse. (B. 336.) Again, in 1884, some more tombs were discovered near the same place which yielded objects of the Bronze Age, viz. a bronze pin, six bronze bracelets (Nos. 8 and 9), and two or three urns (_Antiqua_, 1884, p. 101).

Dr. F. A. Forel (B. 286, p. 48) describes "cimetières de l'époque lacustre" in the vicinity of Morges and St. Prex. In the former group some skeletons were found in stone cists, one of which had two bracelets still adhering to the bones. "Ces bracelets," says Dr. Forel, "qui sont actuellement au musée cantonal de Lausanne, et à la bibliothèque de Morges, appartiennent incontestablement par leur beau travail et leur ornamentation riche et très-caractéristique à la belle époque du Bronze, à l'époque de la grande cité de Morges." In the cemetery near St. Prex were found some thirty skeletons deposited in free earth, and associated with them were some bronze ornaments (une vingtaine de bracelets, épingles à cheveux, anneaux, etc.), which, according to Dr. Forel, incontestably belonged to the _bel Age du Bronze_. Moreover, in the very same place, and almost alternating regularly with the free burials, there were urns containing ashes and charcoal. One of these urns (still preserved at the date of Dr. Forel's description, 1876), which measured 6¼ inches in diameter and 5 inches in height, presented all the characters of the pottery of the lake-dwellings of the Bronze Age.

It is interesting to note here the association of the two modes of burial in the same cemetery. That both systems were prevalent in Switzerland, at least as far back as the Transition period, has recently been shown by Mr. Heierli in his description of "Eine Gruppe prähistorischer Gräber," and "Vorrömische Gräben im Kanton Zürich." As the result of these investigations he proves that burnt bodies were deposited under mounds, associated with clay vessels which were ornamented with dots, lines, and string marks, precisely similar to those on the vessels found at Vinelz.

As a further contribution to the subject, we have the prehistoric graves at Chamblandes, near Pully, which, according to the late Morel-Fatio, who describes them (B. 377),[145] belonged to the lake-dwellers of the Stone Age. It appears that a cultivator, while digging the foundations of a house, came upon a series of ancient graves, at a depth of six or seven feet, formed of four flags set on edge, with a fifth as a covering. Along with each skeleton were found 40 flakes of the tusks of the wild boar, pierced at each extremity. In one a marine shell, also pierced by two holes, was noted. In the following year further discoveries of similar graves were made in the same place, and this time their contents were more carefully examined. The sides were formed of four flags set on edge with an additional one as a covering. On the average these cists measured a mètre in length, and half this in breadth and depth, but one or two of smaller dimensions were noted. When a single skeleton was found it always lay with the feet towards the east. One, however, contained four skeletons, and in this case the heads were in the four corners. About the position of the breast some 40 doubly-perforated boar's teeth were found, which must have been attached to the garments. Besides these there were some perforated shells and two portions of colouring matter, one yellow and the other red. Another tomb contained a complete skeleton, and on the neck lay five doubly-perforated marine shells, while near the head were four pieces of yellow and red colouring matter, and two amulets of human skulls. Dispersed in this grave were beads which looked like amber, but, according to some, were coral. One grave contained a spherical hammer-stone, slightly flattened; another had a perforated and beautifully made axe of serpentine, 6½ inches long; and a third, that of a child (27 inches by 13), had three small, flat, and circular pebbles, like unperforated spindle-whorls, placed in the form of a triangle, and at one of the corners of the grave were some charcoal and fragments of burnt bones.

According to Mr. Morel-Fatio everything found in these graves had their exact analogues in the early lake-dwellings such as Chevroux. Not far off, at Pierra-Portay and Châtelard sur Lutry, other burials of the Stone Age were discovered, which also, in his opinion, belonged to the Lake-dwellers (_Lacustres_).

IV.--IRON AGE.