OF tHE LAKE OP NEUCHATEL. 



393 



been found at the station of Font, and is in the collection of M. Otz, at Cortail- 

 lod. In the collection of M. Schwab is a specimen, thus far un ique, of the ordi- 

 nary hatchet with a circular hole ; it was taken 

 from the Tene, and does not differ from the 

 Roman axe. Fragments of iron hridle-hits 

 sometimes occur at the Tene, not differing 

 much from those used in subsequent epochs. 

 M. Schwab possesses a complete one. The 

 lake has also furnished iron horseshoes, of 

 which we possess a specimen remarkably slen- 

 der, from the Tene ; others, which are not, 

 however, derived from that station, but from 

 a locality on terra firma near the shore, {the 

 terriere de Marin,) have an undulated edge, 

 the undulations having proceeded from the 

 thrust occasioned by the holes of the nails. In 

 the same palafitte there has been lately dis- 

 covered a sort of pike, slightly incurvated, 

 which might have served as a ploughshare, 

 (Fig. 82 ;) for it would seem to be too heavy 

 to answer for a boat-hook,weighing, as it does, 

 not less than four kilogrammes. The collec-^;? 

 tion of M. Schwab, at Bienne, contains a pot '^• 

 or saucepan taken from the Tene, which is of 

 wrought bronze. Is it authentic ? Knives 

 are not wanting, but they have not in general the elegance of those of the age of 

 bronze. They are simple blades, usually straight and quite broad, with a tongue 

 which entered into a handle of wood or horn. There is also in the collection of 

 M. Schwab a pair of scissors, with an elastic handle like those now used in shear- 

 ing sheep. In our own possession is a sort of iron steivpan, which presents 

 numerous traces of reparation, a proof that some importance was attached to it. 



Figure 81. 



ORNAMENTS AND OBJECTS OF APPAREL. 



At the epoch which we are considering, iron had not only 'replaced bronze for arms 

 and domestic utensils ; it appears to have been so highly regarded, perhaps on 

 account of its novelty, as to have been employed even where bronze would have 

 been more appropriate, as for objects of the toilette. It is true that these objects 

 are relatively less abundant than in the stations of the age of bronze, and com- 

 prise rather useful articles than those of mere fantasy. Thus, we find neither 

 rings nor ornaments for the ears, and we have thus far recovered but one small 

 hair-pin, which itself might have been derived from the .preceding age, for it is 

 of bronze. Ornaments of detail, it would seem, were not in request ; on the 

 other hand, elegance of form was affected, as is attested by a multitude of objects 

 which have descended to us. Of this number are iheJihulcB or clasps of mantles, 

 (Figs. 83 and 84.) We are in possession of a numerous series of them, pre- 

 senting variations of every kind, but all based on the same principle of the elastic 

 spiral,* which is more or less complicated, according to the number of convolu- 

 tions. They are of all dimensions, from six to twelve centimetres in length, and 

 have sometimes the principal stem ornamented. Most of them are in a perfect 



* The 60-ealled cpingles (Vhopital, which have been recently so much vaunted, depend 

 upon the same principle. They are the Gallic fibula, without ita elegance. 



