OF THE LAKE OF NEUCHATEL. 387 



may be seen, at a number of places, groups of piles hewed for the most part to 

 a point and rising from 10 to 30 centimetres above the bottom, without attain- 

 ing the surface except at very low water. The piles are similar to those of the 

 stations of bronze, of medium thickness, measuring fi'om 12 to 20 centimetres in 

 diameter. They are generally very soft, in so much that it is difficult to with- 

 draw them entire. The beams which lie here and there on the bottom are for 

 the most part less decomposed ; some have been squared and even furnished 

 with mortises carefully cut ; while occasionally the cross-pieces are found still 

 attached to the beams, being the remains of ancient walls or enclosures. 



Here, as in the stations of the age of stone and of bronze, it is in the imme- 

 diate neighborhood of the piles that antiquities are collected. At first some 

 objects Avere found on the surface, but the greater part are buried at a depth of 

 1 m. to 1 m. 50 c, whence they are Avithdrawn by searching in the ooze. The 

 objects obtained in this way are always best preserved ; the arms and utensils 

 of iron particularly have been protected from the cont;xct of the air, and, fa- 

 vored also by the antiseptic properties of the peaty substratum, remain uninjured. 

 It is possible that eventually antiquities will be found wherever piles make 

 their appearance ; if so, the Teiie must have been a considerable establishment.* 

 Hitherto the greater part of the objects has been collected at two or three 

 points of a very limited extent, measuring in the whole less than a hectare. 

 The numerous objects which the station of the Tene has furnished within a few 

 years may be classified as follows, in the order of their frequency : Arms, 

 utensils and vessels, objects of apparel, coins, skeletons- 



ARMS. 



Tlie arms of the T^ne possess a peculiar interest, t not only on account of 

 their fine preservation as objects of art and curiosity, but also and chiefly as 

 documents for the history of G-allic civilization. Through the munificence of his 

 Majesty the Emperor of the French we have been enabled to compare these 

 ai-ms with a collection of casts representing the arms collected in the trenches 

 of Alise, and we have there found the most vivid confirmation of our previous 

 impressions that the inhabitants of the palafitte of Tene were Gaitls. 



Among these arms, those which strike us most are the large iron heads of 

 lances, measuring as much as 40 centimetres in length by a breadth of from 4 

 to 6, of elaborate workmanship, strengthened by a central prominence running 

 down each face, and very large lateral development or wings, which are not al- 

 ways symmetrical. Some are irregularly emarginated, doubtless to render the 



* The piles are not limited to the shoals, but extend also under the detritus of the shore to 

 the distance of more than a hundred metres from the beach at mean water. It may be as- 

 sumed that they advance at least ht'ty metres into the water ; on the other hand, tile space 

 they occupy is in breadth at least 1,000 metres, which multiplied by 150 gives a surface of 

 150,000 square metres, or fifteen hectares. 



t From a commrrnication made by M. F. de Eoagemont to the Society of History of Swit- 

 zerland, at its last meeting at Neuchatel, in 1664, it appears that the arms of the Tene corre- 

 spond in a striking manner with the description of the arms of the Gauls given by Diodorus 

 Siculus, (book 5, chap. 30:) "As a weapon of defence, he says, the Gauls have a_ large 

 sword suspended to the right side by a long chain of iron or copper, and some of them 

 fasten their tunics with belts ornamented with plates of gold and silver. For throwing, they 

 have javelins, which they call lances ; the iron, a cubit in length, (nearly a demi-metre, ) the 

 stock a cubit and something more, the breadth of the blade is nearly two palms, (about three 

 inches.) Their swords are not less in length than the saunium or javelin of other nations, 

 and their javelins have the iron longer than their swords. Of these arms some are forged, 

 straight, others in zigzag with the extremity bent backward, with a view that, in striking, 

 they may not only pierce,, but tear and lacerate the flesh when withdrawn." As M. de 

 Rougemont suspects Diodorus of not having perfectly understood the author from whom he 

 copied, we propose the following correction, which has been suggested to us by a view of the 

 arms of the Tene : "The blades of these javelins, three inches in breadth, are very extraordi- 

 nary, for they are broader than the long and large swords, and yet these swords do not yield 

 in point of breadth to the javelins of any other nation." 



