378 



PALAFITTES, OR LACUSTRIAN CONSTRUCTIONS 



It is not rare to meet witb bronze buttons in tbe palafittes ; we possess several 

 from tbe stations of Cortaillod and Auveruier. Tbey are convex, formed of a 

 tbin plate, and bave a loop on tbe concave side. One, 

 in tbe possession of M. Otz, from Cortaillod, measures 

 not less tban two iucbes in diameter, and is decorated 

 on tbe border witb designs cbaracteristic of tbe age of 

 bronze, similar to tbose on tbe vase represented by 

 figure 25. 



Tbe cbemical composition is now an important el&- 

 jment of tbe study of lacustrian brouzes. From numer- 

 ' ous analyses made by M. Fellenberg, it results tbat tbe 

 proportion of copper and tin is not so fixed as was at 

 first tbougbt, wben, to a lacustrian bronze tbere was 

 assigned 10 per cent, of tin and 90 of copper. Tbe pro- 

 portion of tbe tin, on tbe contrary, may vary from 4 to 

 20 per cent., accordiiig as tbe founders of tbe epoch 

 < igure a. experienced more or less facility in procuring tbat 



metal. Tbese proportions are indicated more or less sensibly by tbe tint 

 of tbe metal. Tbe bronze into wbicb enters a tentb part of tin (as in tbe metal 

 of cannon) bas tbe finest color; it is tbe most common in our lakes, and in its 

 tint nearest approaches gold. Wben tbe tin is in less proportion, tbe metal is 

 more red and soft ; it takes, on tbe other band, a light tint and becomes very 

 hard wben tbe proportion of tin sensibly exceeds tbe tentb. What is still more 

 suggestive is tbe absence in objects of the age of bronze, of every other metal in 

 any cons^idcrable proportion. If lead, iron, or nickel be occasionally found, it is 

 in insignificant quantities, like impurities in the ores of copper. Hence 31. Fel- 

 lenberg concludes that when a bronze contains however inconsiderable a portion 

 of lead or zinc, it cannot bave proceeded from the age of bronze, but mu?t date 

 from a more recent epoch.* We will farther add that, from tbe recent researches 

 of Dr. F. Wibelt on the composition of ancient bronzes, the antehistoric artisans 

 must bave possessed the art of annealing bronze. In effect, bronze, to be mal- 

 leable wben cold, should not contain more than five per cent, of tin ; when 

 heated, it still yields under the hammer, though containing 15 per cent, of tin. 

 To work bronzes which contain a greater proportion of tin, it is necessary to 

 subject them to tbe process of d'Arcet, by cooling them suddenly. In this way, 

 a malleability is given to them which they bave not naturally, and wbicb tbey 

 do not acquire when tbey are cooled slowly. Now as, among the bronzes of the 

 palafittes, there are found hammered specimens which must necessarily have 

 been worked wben cold, it follows that tbe art of annealing bronze must be 

 nearly as ancient witb us as the art of preparing it. It is surprising tbat, know- 

 ing this influence of cooling on tbe metals, the people of the age of iron should 

 not have been led to tbe discovery of steel, which is but an inverse process. 



It remains to mention, in connexion with the 

 stones for grinding grain which are common to 

 the two ages, certain discoid stones from 10 to 

 12 centimetres in diameter, furnished with a 

 groove of more or less depth on their circum- 

 '^ tVrence, and respecting whose signification 

 ■^ there is far from being an agreement, (Fig. 66a.) 

 It bas been asked if they were not pullies, 

 especially as their two faces often present slight 

 cavities, wbicb would explain why they are 

 always of bard stone, (quartzite, granite or 

 diorite,) and never of limestone or molasse. 



Fio-uretiOfl. 



* Soo Appendix at the cud of this sectiou. 



t Die Cultur dcr lironzezcit : Kiel, ]tiG5, p. 24. 



