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
(2) _Station des Vaux._--Between La Tuilière to the Station des Vaux
the promontory "Du Grain" intervenes, where, scattered on the shore
on both sides of it, Roman tiles are met with. The remains of this
pile-dwelling are situated near to a small spring of water, and
directly below the rising ground, which is here covered with vines.
The piles are disposed in two groups, and with scarcely an interval
between them; but they represent two different periods of the Stone
Age. The first or more eastern group stretches for 100 yards, with a
breadth of 40 yards, parallel to the lake; and though farther within
the old lake basin, it is considered by Messrs. Borel the older of the
two, being contemporary with La Tuilière and the earliest lacustrine
settlements in the lake. A steinberg of broken stones marks its
centre, but its examination has yielded only a few small stone celts,
arrow and spear-heads of dark flint, and some coarse pottery. Among
the osseous remains are some jaws of the beaver.
The second group occupied a smaller area than the previous one, and
contained no steinberg, but, on the other hand, a well-developed
relic-bed, some 12 to 16 inches thick, which was productive of relics
of a decidedly more advanced character, such as well-made implements
of staghorn, including a variety of handles for stone celts. The most
important discovery here was a human skull of the dolichocephalic
type. (_Antiqua_, 1884, p. 106.) The most inland piles of this group
were only about 30 yards from the vineyards, whereas the corresponding
ones of the first group were 70 yards distant. The anomalous statement
that the second or more advanced Stone Age settlement was situated in
an outer zone from the earliest (a fact which applies to all those
explored on the Bevaix coast), Messrs. Borel explain by supposing that
the lake area was gradually increasing since the earlier settlements
were founded. We shall afterwards see that this supposition is well
founded, on evidence that by careful observation could be greatly
multiplied.
(3) _Station de l'Abbaye._--A little farther on there is the site of
another Stone Age station, presenting the same indications of an older
and younger period, and also having the same relative position to
each other as we have seen in the Stations des Vaux, viz. the older
occupying a situation more advanced into the old lake basin. In front
of these two stations, Des Vaux and De l'Abbaye, lie the remains of a
large settlement of the Bronze Age, the piles of which, even when the
lake is at its lowest, are still in several feet of water; it extends
parallel to the shore, about 200 yards in length, and 160 in breadth.
In addition to the relics found by the earlier explorers (Troyon,
Desor, Vouga, Dr. Clement, etc.), and already noticed, the following
bronze objects are recorded from the station, all of which are either
in the private collection of the Messrs. Borel or in the scholastic
museum at Bevaix:--
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