The Lake-Dwellings of Europe: Being the Rhind Lectures in Archæology for 1888Munro, Robert
History
The Lake-Dwellings of Europe: Being the Rhind Lectures in Archæology for 1888
Munro, Robert
Lake-dwellers and lake-dwellings -- Bibliography; Lake-dwellers and lake-dwellings -- Europe
A couple of miles to the west of the southern end of the Attersee lies
the Mondsee, followed farther up in the same valley by the small lake
of Fuschl, both of which send their united surplus water into the
former. Just opposite the outlet of the Mondsee, at a place called
See, the site of a very interesting lake-dwelling was discovered,
which since 1872 has been very carefully investigated by Dr. Much, of
Vienna, with the result that this indefatigable explorer is now in
possession of one of the most instructive collections of lake-dwelling
remains in Europe. The SEE station covered an area of some 3,500
square yards. The piles were round, 3½ inches to 8 inches in
diameter, and irregularly placed, and the relic-bed was deeply covered
with mud. The antiquities, many of which are here illustrated (=Figs.
38=, =39=, and =40=), may be thus classified.
_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).
[Illustration: =Fig. 38.=--MONDSEE. All ½ real size.]
[Illustration: =Fig. 39.=--MONDSEE AND ATTERSEE (17, 18, and 20 to
22). All ½ real size.]
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