LUBBOCK ON THE ANCIENT LAKE HABITATIONS OF SWITZERLAND. 33 



stone implements resemble those of Moosseedorf, and are principally 

 formed of indigenous rocks, wliicli to judge from the fragments 

 scattered about, were evidently worked up at these two places. One 

 or two bits, however, consisted of Oriental Nephrite, which is green, 

 transparent, and of remarkable hardness, and if these really belonged 

 to the Stone age, the fact is very remarkable, as this substance, 

 according to Swiss mineralogists, does not naturally occur in Swit- 

 zerland, and must have been brought from Egypt or Asia. On this 

 point, however, it would be desirable to have more information ; 

 since, if we are to suppose that any such extended commerce 

 existed, it is difficult to understand why bronze and iron were not 

 also introduced. Weapons of Nephrite have also been found at 

 one or two other places, belonging to the Bronze age, and where 

 therefore its presence is less inexplicable. The stone implements 

 found in the settlements belonging to this earliest period consist of 

 hammers, axes, knives, saws, lance-heads, arrow-heads, corn-crushers, 

 and polishing blocks. Some of the hammers were made of serpentine 

 with a hole pierced through one end, and are, like aU pierced stones, 

 of very great rarity, belonging perhaps only to the end of the Stone 

 period . Some of them are cylindrical, others more cubical in shape. 

 The axe was preeminently the im])lement of antiquity. It was 

 used in war and in the chase, as well as for domestic purposes, and 

 great numbers have been found, especially at Wangen, (Lake of 

 Constance) aud Concise (Lake of Neufchatel). With a few excep- 

 tions they were surprisingly small, especially when compared with 

 the magnificent specimens from Denmark ; in length they varied 

 from six inches down even as low as one, whUe the cutting edge had 

 generally a width of from 15 to 20 lines. Mint was sometimes used, 

 and nephrite, or jade, in a few cases, but serpentine was the principal 

 material. Most of the larger settlements were evidently manufacturing 

 places, and many spoilt pieces and half finished specimens have been 

 found. The process of manufacture is thus described by M. Troyon. 

 After having chosen a stone, the first step was to reduce it by 

 blows with a hammer to a suitable size. Then grooves were made 

 artificially, which must have been a very tedious and difficult opera- 

 tion, when flint knives, sand, a little water, and an unlimited amount 

 of patience, were the only available iustruments. Having carried 

 the grooves to the required depths, the projecting portions were re- 

 moved by a skilful blow with a hammer, and the implement was then 

 sharpened and polished on blocks of sandstone. 



Sometimes the hatchet thus obtained was simply fixed in a handle 

 of horn or wood. Generally, however, the whole instrument con- 

 sisted of three parts. A piece of horn, two or three inches in length, 

 received the stone at one end and was squared at the other, so as to 

 fit into a longer handle either of wood or horn. These intermediate 

 pieces present several variations, some are simply squared, others have 

 a projecting wing which rested against the handle, some few are 

 forked as if to I'eceive a wedge, and one had a small transverse hole 

 apparently for the insertion of a peg. 



N. H. R.— 1862. D 



