By Far the Largest Hatchet Discovered in Switzerland
SWISS VILLAGES.
An interesting arclneological discovery ‘
has recently been made on the shores of j
tho of Bienne. The Swiss Govern
ment lias been for a long time endeavoring I
to drain a considerable tract of land
between the two lakes of Moral and
Bienne, hut in order to do this effectually I
| it has been found necessary to lower the
| level of the latter hy cutting a canal from |
:it to the Lake of Neuehatel. At the begin-|
i ning of the present year the sluices were ‘
! opened and the waters of the Lake of j
Bicnuec allowed to How into that of Ncu- |
1 chatel. Up to the present time the level of
1 the Bielor Sea has fallen upward of three |
feet, and this fall has brought to light a !
| number of stakes driven firmly into tho
j bed of tho lake. This fact becoming
know;.; a number of Swiss arclneologists
‘ visited the spot, and it was decided to j
i remove the soil round tnese stakes to see
whether any remains of a Lacustrine vil
| lage, which they suspected had been raised
upon them, could bo traced. At the dis
tance of between live and six feet from the
present bed of the lake the workmen came
upon a large number of objects of various j
kinds, which have been collected and are ‘
at present under the custody of Dr. Gross,
of Locrass. Among them are pieces of j
cord made from hemp, vases, stags’ horns,
stone hatchets, and utensils used apparent- j
ly for cooking. The most precious speci
men is, however, a hatchet made of neph
rite’the name given to a peculiarly hard
kind of stone from which the Laejstrincs
formed their cuttiug instruments.” The
hatchet is sixteen centimetres long by seven
broad, and is hy far the largest yet discov
ered in any part of Switzerland, no other
collection having any measuring more than
eight centimetres in length. A quantity of
tho hones found at me same time have
been sent to Dr. Uhlman, of Muuchen
hucliscc, for examination hy him, and he
finds that they belong to the following ani
mals, viz:—slag, horse, ox, wild hoar, pig,
goat, heaver, dog, mouse, etc., together
with a large number of human bones. If
■ the level of the lake continues to sink, it
is hoped that further discoveries will be
made, and tho scientific world here is
waiting the result of the engineering opera
tions with keen interest.
The Standard.
- The Cecil Whig. [volume], May 18, 1872, Image 1