The adz is another type of implement that is rare in Switzerland. One in its original wooden handle is in the museum at Lausanne. The blade is about 200 mm. in length and the cutting edge about 40 mm. in width. The blade passes entirely through the handle, which is about 500 mm. in length and not unlike form c in figure 1, except that the cutting edge is placed at a right angle to the handle. The arrowpoints, which usually were made of chert, include several distinct types, but comparatively few specimens are found and the museums possess very small collections. In attaching the stone point to the shaft a notch was made into which the point was fitted and held with bitumen. There are several such specimens in the collections. There is also in the Lausanne Museum an antler tip, similar to the American specimens, about 50 mm. in length, which may have been a point for an arrow. But if this form of point had been widely used in Switzerland more examples would undoubtedly have been discovered on the various sites. The chipped saws, or knives, are numerous, and many specimens in their original handles, some of wood, others of antler, have been found on various sites. These have often been figured and described. While at Prefargier I procured a very interesting small saw made of dark green jade; it is oval in form, 35 mm. in length and less than 2 mm. in thickness (pl. II, 3). The chipped daggers, while inferior in workmanship to either the Danish or the Italian weapons, are the most interesting of the chipped objects found in the lakes. The largest example in the Neuchâtel museum, which with many smaller ones was found near Bevaix, is 225 mm. long and 34 mm. wide. There are two extremely interesting specimens in Lausanne which were recovered from the station at Chevroux on the Lake of Neuchâtel at the time the lake was lowered. They are of particular interest as they retain portions of the original wrapping which served as the handle. These and many other rare objects were illustrated in an album published by the Lausanne Museum in 1896 under the title Antiquités Lacustres. The daggers were of two types. In the first only one end was chipped to a point; in the second and rarer type both ends were pointed. Plate 11, 9, shows a very good example of this type; it is of translucent yellow flint and was found at Prefargier. In the same plate, 1, 2, 6, and 7 are typical examples of the small chisel. The first three are of a dark green jade or nephrite, and the fourth is a light bluish-green quartzite. The very beautiful example of an amber bead (4) is a comparatively rare specimen. The triangular cutting implement (10) is made of a dark mottled jade; it was probably never mounted, but was used in the hand; the shortest side is ground to an edge which has remained remarkably sharp. Figure 8 of the same plate is a perforated pendant, made of a soft material, from the same site. During the Stone age bone and antler were also extensively used for making ornaments and implements of various sorts. Some interesting examples are figured in plate III. Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5 are forms of bone chisels having one sharp edge. Nos. 6 and 7 may be classed as perforators. The long curved object (4) is called a hair-pin or ornament, but it is difficult to say for what purpose it was designed. The cylindrical projection at the side is perforated. The object is highly polished from use, and appears to be a very rare type, as only one or two similar specimens are in the Lausanne collection. The harpoon head (8) is of antler. THE ENEOLITHIC OR TRANSITION PERIOD The Eneolithic or transition period between the Neolithic and Bronze ages is not clearly defined on Neuchâtel, and if such a period actually existed it was of brief duration. There are but fourteen objects in the Neuchâtel museum that are regarded as having been made of copper without an alloy, while there are probably as many hundreds made of bronze. In form they do not differ; all appear to have been made during the same time. In mixing the metals a greater or less quantity of tin was used, for it is not reasonable to suppose that with the primitive means and methods then in use it was possible to have always the same proportions. If, then, some object happens to contain a very small percentage of tin, or if the alloy is entirely lacking, why should those objects be considered to have been made during a distinct period? |