OF THE LAKE OP NEUCHATEL. 



367 



II.— AGE OF BEONZE. 



There exists a notable difiFevence between the palafittes of the age of stone and 

 those of the age of bronze. The hitter, which are at once more extensive* and 

 more numerous, are found at a greater distance from the shore ; their depth is con- 

 sequently more considerable, generally from 3 to 5 metres below mean water. 

 This is observable at the lake of Constance as well as our own. In a letter of M. 

 A. Senouer to M. G. de Mortillet it is said : " There is a great difference between 

 the stations of stone and those of metal ; the former approach the shore more 

 or less nearly, while the latter are distant from it about 330"'." Sometimes they 

 are very near the teuevieres, being separated by a space of only a few metres, 

 as for instance at Auvernier. The piles are more slender, frequently trees cleft 

 in four parts, scarcely exceeding 12 to 15 centimetres in diameter ; instead of 

 being on a level with the bottom, they rise from 30 to 60 centimetres above it, 

 which allows of their being easily recognized, notwithstanding their greater 

 depth. As they are simply sunk in the ground, they may be occasionally 

 withdrawn, when the wood is not too much decayed. Their number is so con- 

 siderable that at some stations they may be counted by thousands, now grouped 

 by six, ten, or twenty, now arranged in several rows which seem to tend to- 

 wards the shore, thus affording a proof that the question really regards con- 

 structions on pile-work elevated above the water and communicating with the 

 shore by avenues or foot-bridges, and that these are no artificial islands, as the 

 tenevieres or Steinbergs of the age of stone might possibly be. 



It is in the intervals of the piles that we find the utensils, arms and habili- 

 ments of every sort which characterize this epoch, as well as the earthen ves- 

 sels, of which there existed of old large deposits at certain stations, among 

 others at Auvernier.t This pottery, although prepared in the same manner with 

 that of the preceding age, without the help of the wheel, is distingui:?hed by a 

 much greater variety of form and outline. Like that, too, it is black, and it is 

 only exceptionally that the surface is brown or red, tending to show that the 

 baking was not conducted in furnaces but in the open air.| If the paste of the 



large vessels is still coarse and 

 characterized by the same mix- 

 ture of small siliceous pebbles, 

 it is not so with that of the 

 small ones, which is fine, ho- 

 mogeneous, and often coated^ 

 with a glaze of graphite. We 

 are struck at the same time 

 with the elegance of form and 

 fine proportions of these ves- 

 sels, (Figs. 22, 23.) It is not 

 unusual to meet with rudi- 

 ments of design, described with a point, which rep- 

 resent sometimes chevrons or small triangles, some- 

 times simple rows or points traced around the neck 

 or handle, (Figs. 24, 25, 30.) Most of the vases 



<^'"^^ 



Fie'uie 23, 



Figure 22. 



* It is not easy to assign the extent of these palafittes on acconnt of their border being often 

 very sinuous. Some comprise a surface of several hectares, especially those on the southern 

 shore of Lake Neuchatel. That of Auvernier is estimated to contain some 5tJ arcs. 



t An aged fisherman has told us that, wlieu a child, "he sometimes amused himself by 

 thiiistiug, vvith a long pole, at these old pots ; that there were great heaps, real mountains 

 of them." 



t According to Brogniart, TraitS des Arts ciramiqites, p. 487, this mode of fabrication 

 still exists in certain parts of France. The pottery is fashioned by the hand, after which it 

 is baked in the open ak by means of the flame of heaps of fern which suiTound it. 



