It is altogether a different matter with respect to the javelins, a tolerably large number of which have been found in the lacustrine settlements of La Tène. They are simple socketed heads (fig. 251), terminating in a laurel-leaf shape, about 4 to 5 inches in length. [Illustration: Fig. 251.--Head of a Javelin, found in the Lacustrine Settlement of La Tène (Neuchâtel).] It appears from experiments ordered by the Emperor of the French, that these javelins could only have been used as missile weapons, and that they were thrown, not by the hand merely grasping the shaft (which would be impossible to do effectually on account of their light weight), but by means of a cord or thong, which was designated among the Romans by the name of _amentum_. These experiments have shown that a dart which could be thrown only 65 feet with the hand, might be cast four times that distance by the aid of the _amentum_. There probably existed among the Gauls certain military corps who practised the use of the _amentum_, that is to say, the management of _thonged javelins_, and threw this javelin in the same way as other warriors threw stones by means of a sling. This conclusion, which has been drawn by M. Desor, seems to us a very just one. Javelins of the preceding type are very common in the trenches of Alise. In this neighbourhood a large number of iron arrows have also been found which have never been met with in the lacustrine settlement of La Tène. War was not the only purpose for which these javelins were used by the men of the iron epoch. Hunting, too, was carried on by means of these missile weapons. The bow and the thonged javelin constituted the hunting weapons of this epoch. We have depicted this in the accompanying plate, which represents _the chase during the iron epoch_. [Illustration: Fig. 252.--The Chase during the Iron Epoch.] Next to the weapons come the implements. We will, in the first place, mention the hatchets (fig. 253). They are larger, more solid, and have a wider cutting edge than those used in the bronze epoch; wings were no longer in use, only a square-shaped socket into which was fitted a wooden handle, probably made with an elbow. [Illustration: Fig. 253.--Square-socketed Iron Hatchet, found in one of the Lakes of Switzerland.] The sickles (fig. 254) are likewise larger and also more simple than those of the bronze epoch; there are neither designs nor ornaments of any kind on them. [Illustration: Fig. 254.--Sickle.]