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
Making a circuit of the lake westwards, we come at once on a series of
four stations, the ruins of which lie scattered on the shore between
La Tène and the promontory of Préfargier. Their _débris_ lay embedded
in a thick bed of ancient mud, which has since become undermined,
and almost entirely washed away by the waves, leaving the heavier
antiquities amongst the rolled pebbles. Some beautiful implements of
nephrite and jadeite, and occasionally copper objects, have been thus
picked up, some of which are still in the possession of Messrs. Vouga,
Dardel-Thorens, and other local collectors.
ST. BLAISE.--This station has only come into prominence since the
operations for the "Correction des Eaux du Jura" took effect on the
lake; and although its investigation has been somewhat desultorily
conducted, the finds from it are extremely interesting, as they
are characteristic of the period of transition. The settlement,
was situated to the west of the town of St. Blaise, and appears to
have occupied a large area, as piles extended more or less all the
way to Hauterive. Its chief explorers and relic-holders are Messrs.
Vouga, Zintgraff, and Dardel-Thorens. In 1878 Dr. Gross published
a description of its relics with two plates of illustrations, and
subsequently a notice of it appeared in the _Anzeiger_ (B. 376a) and
_Das Ausland_ (B. 418, p. 49). Among some thousands of stone axes, of
which about ten per cent are perforated, there are many of nephrite,
jadeite, chloromelanite, and _saussurite_. These latter are generally
small, and set in horn fixers with a split at the end. The perforated
hatchets (one of which is an unfinished specimen, with the core still
in the hole) have often one end formed into a hammer (=Fig. 8=, Nos.
25 and 26). Among the many worked objects of horn and bone, such as
pins (Nos. 22, 23, and 24), perforated clubs (No. 20), and daggers
or spear-heads (No. 21), are some curiously-wrought pieces, which
suggested to Dr. Gross the idea that they were part of a machine for
boring holes in hard substances. The chief interest, however, lies
in the number and variety of copper objects which this station has
yielded. Out of about a dozen articles of metal, only one is said
to be bronze (No. 4)--a dagger with a well-defined mid-rib--while
the rest consist of two flat axes (Nos. 6, a fragment, and 14), six
daggers after the type of the flint weapons (Nos. 1 to 5, 7, and 9),
a knife (No. 8),[6] a bit of a spiral (No. 18), an arrow-point with
some asphalt still adhering to it (No. 16), two small awls (Nos. 15
and 17), two earrings (Nos. 11 and 12), and two beads (Nos. 10 and 13).
[Illustration: Fig. 8.--ST. BLAISE. Nos. 20 and 26 = ¼, the rest =
½ real size.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account