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
The accompanying plan and sections of Gorzano will convey some idea
of the position of the terramara beds in respect to their immediate
surroundings. The deposits (marked c on section A) extended in
length about 90 to 100 mètres from north to south, and 70 mètres in
breadth, with an average thickness of 3½ mètres. The settlement was
constructed on a natural elevation, rising about 9 mètres above the
rest of the plain and 11 above the bed of the adjacent stream Tiepido.
It was surrounded by a ditch and a dyke, and it also contained the
remains of a palafitte. The existence of piles is clearly proved by
Dr. Coppi himself, who gives a section (C) showing their respective
positions, but at the same time he denies that they indicate the
remains of a palafitte.
Of the comparative frequency of industrial remains in the terramara
deposits, a correct notion will be got from a study of Dr. Coppi's
report of the excavations at Gorzano during the year 1875. In this
year there were 274 cubic mètres excavated, covering an area of 180
square mètres; and from this mass of _débris_ there were collected
3,051 objects, of which 173 belonged to the upper or Romano-mediæval
stratum, which varied from 1 to 1½ mètres in thickness. The rest
of the objects, which came from the under strata, and were reckoned
prehistoric, are thus classified:--852 industrial objects, 1,544
remains of vertebrate animals, 285 remains of molluscs, 153 vegetable
remains.
The 852 industrial remains are again thus assigned:--
_Bronze._--50 objects: viz. eight pins, four axes, 12 daggers, one
chisel, two awls, six discs, one spindle-whorl, two fragments of
sickles, and 14 diverse bits.
_Bone._--80 objects: viz. 38 needles and pins (of which 23 are
entire), nine spatulæ, 17 pointers, three chisels, six teeth, one
lamina, five awls, and one handle.
_Horn._--62 objects: viz. seven small wheels, one cylinder, one comb,
two arrow-points, 17 spatulæ, 12 pointers, two awls, three ornaments,
two picks, four handles, and 17 diverse pieces.
[Illustration: _Distribution of Piles in Gorzano_]
_Stone._--68 objects: viz. two flint knives, two pendants, four
spindle-whorls, two discs, four weights, six grinding-stones, one
polisher, three flint nodules, four flint flakes, and 30 worked stones.
_Terracotta._--585 objects: viz. 494 spindle-whorls (=Fig. 85=,
No. 17), two cylinders, 12 weights, 68 vases, three covers, five
percolators, and one small animal figure.
The bones capable of being determined represented the following
animals:--15 oxen, 25 sheep or goats, seven stags, eight roes, 30
pigs, two wild boars, 14 dogs or wolves, one cat, eight birds, one
tortoise, and 15 toads.
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