Industrial Skill and Agriculture during the Bronze Epoch--The
Invention of Glass--Invention of Weaving.
The manufacture of pottery, which appears to have remained stationary
during the Stone Age, assumed a considerable development during the
bronze epoch. The clay intended for making pottery was duly puddled, and
the objects when moulded were baked in properly formed furnaces. At this
date also commences the art of surfacing articles of earthenware.
The specimens of pottery which have been found in the settlements of man
of this period are both numerous and interesting; entire vessels have
indeed been discovered. We notice indications of very marked progress
beyond the objects of this kind manufactured in the preceding age. They
are still fashioned by the hand and without the aid of the wheel; but
the shapes are both more varied in their character and more elegant. In
addition to this, although in the larger kind of vessels the clay used
is still rough in its nature and full of hard lumps of quartz like the
material employed in the Stone Age, that of the smaller vessels is much
finer, and frequently covered with a black lead coating.
Most of these vessels are characterised by a conical base, a shape which
we had before occasion to point out in the stag's-horn vessels of the
Stone Age. If, therefore, it was requisite to place them upright, the
lower ends of them had to be stuck into the earth, or to be placed in
holders hollowed out to receive them.
Some of these supports, or holders, have been discovered. They are
called _torches_, or _torchères_, by French archæologists.
Figs. 198 and 199 give a representation of a bronze vessel from the
lacustrine habitations of Switzerland with its support or _torchère_.
[Illustration: Fig. 198.--Earthenware Vessel with Conical Bottom, from
the Lacustrine Habitations of Switzerland.]
[Illustration: Fig. 199.--Earthen Vessel placed on its support.]
In a general way, the vessels made with conical bases have no handles;
but others, on the contrary, are provided with them (fig. 200). They are
nearly always ornamented with some sort of design, either mere lines
parallel to the rim, triangles, chevrons, or rows of points round the
handle or the neck. Even the very roughest specimens are not altogether
devoid of ornamentation, and a stripe may often be observed round the
neck, on which the fingers of the potter have left their traces.
[Illustration: Fig. 200.--Fragment of an Earthen Vessel with a Handle.]
These vessels were intended to contain beverages and substances used for
food. Out of one of them M. Desor took some apples, cherries, wild
plums, and a large quantity of nuts. Some of these vessels, perforated
with small holes, were used in the manufacture of cheese. Dishes,
porringers, &c., have also been found.
Relics of the pottery of the Stone Age are very frequently recovered
from the Swiss lakes; but vessels in an entire state are seldom met
with. It is, however, stated as a fact, that considerable accumulations
of them once existed; but, unfortunately, the importance of them was not
recognised until too late. An old fisherman of the Lake of Neuchâtel
told M. Desor that in his childhood he had sometimes amused himself by
pushing at _these old earthen pots_ with a long pole, and that in
certain parts of the lake there were _real mountains_ of them. At the
present day, the "old earthen pots" are all broken, and nothing but
pieces can be recovered.
These relics are, however, sufficient to afford a tolerably exact idea
of the way in which the primitive Swiss used to fashion clay. They seem
to denote large vessels either cylindrical (figs. 201 and 202) or
bulbous-shaped with a flat bottom, moulded by the hand without the aid
of a potter's wheel. The material of which they are composed is rough,
and of a grey or black colour, and is always mingled with small grains
of quartz; the baking of the clay is far from satisfactory.
[Illustration: Fig. 201.--Vessel of Baked Clay, from the Lacustrine
Settlements of Switzerland.]
[Illustration: Fig. 202.--Vessel of Baked Clay, from the Lacustrine
Settlements of Switzerland.]
The ornamentation is altogether of an ordinary character. It generally
consists of mere lines traced out in the soft clay, either by the
finger, a pointed stick, or sometimes a string was used. There are
neither curves nor arabesques of any kind; the lines are almost always
straight.
A few of the vessels are, however, decorated in a somewhat better style.
Some are provided with small projections perforated with holes, through
which might be passed a string for the purpose of hanging them up; there
are others which have a row of studs arranged all round them, just below
the rim, and others, indeed, in which hollows take the place of the
studs. Several have been met with which are pierced with holes at
different heights; it is supposed that they were used in the preparation
of milk-curd, the holes being made to let out the whey. The vessels of
this period are entirely devoid of handles; this ornament did not appear
until the bronze age.
Mill-stones, or stones for crushing grain, are not unfrequently found in
the Swiss lakes.
At some date during the period we are now discussing we must place the
discovery of glass. Glass beads of a blue or green colour are, in fact,
found in the tombs of the bronze epoch. What was their origin? Chemistry
and metallurgy combine to inform us that as soon as bronze foundries
existed glass must have been discovered. What, in fact, does glass
consist of? A silicate with a basis of soda and potash, combined with
some particles of the silicates of iron and copper, which coloured it
blue and green. As the scoria from bronze foundries is partly composed
of these silicates it is indubitable that a kind of glass was formed in
the earliest metal-works where this alloy was made. It constituted the
slag or dross of the metal works.
Thus, the classic tradition which attributes the invention of glass to
certain Phoenician merchants, who produced a mass of glass by heating on
the sand the _natron_, that is _soda_, brought from Egypt, ascribe too
recent a date to the discovery of this substance. It should properly be
carried back to the bronze epoch.
The working of amber was carried out to a very great extent by these
peoples. Ornaments and objects of this material have been discovered in
great abundance in the lacustrine settlements of Switzerland.
On the whole, if we compare the industrial skill of the bronze age with
that of the preceding age, we shall find that the later is vastly
superior to the earlier.
The art of weaving seems to have been invented during the stone age. We
have positive and indisputable proofs that the people who lived during
this epoch were acquainted with the art of manufacturing cloth.[36] All
the objects which we have thus far considered do not, in fact, surpass
those which might be expected from any intelligent savage; but the art
of preparing and manufacturing textile fabrics marks out one of the
earliest acquisitions of man's civilisation.
In the Museum of Saint-Germain we may both see and handle some specimens
of woven cloth which were met with in some of the lacustrine settlements
in Switzerland, and specially at Robenhausen and Wangen. This cloth,
which is represented in fig. 203, taken from a specimen in the Museum of
Saint-Germain, is formed of twists of interwoven flax; of rough
workmanship, it is true, but none the less remarkable, considering the
epoch in which it was manufactured. It is owing to the fact of their
having been charred and buried in the peat that these remains of
pre-historic fabrics have been kept in good preservation up to the
present time.
[Illustration: Fig. 203.--Cloth of the Bronze Age, found in the
Lacustrine Settlements of Switzerland.]
Balls of thread and twine have also been found; likewise ends of cord,
and ropes made of bark, nets with large and moderately-sized meshes,
which we have previously represented, and lastly some fragments of a
basket of straw or osier.
Ribs of animals, split through and tapering off at one end, have been
considered to be the teeth of the cards or combs which were used for
unravelling the flax. The whole comb was formed of several of these
bones joined firmly together with a band.
[Illustration: Fig. 204.--The First Weaver.]
There were also found in the Swiss lakes a large number of discs made of
baked earth perforated with a hole in their centre, of which we here
give a representation (fig. 205), taken from one of the numerous
specimens in the Museum of Saint-Germain. These are ordinary
spindle-whorls.
[Illustration: Fig. 205.--Spindle-whorls made of baked Clay, found in
the Lacustrine Settlements of Switzerland.]
Also, terra cotta weights pierced with a hole through the centre were
intended to support the thread of flax in the weaving loom. The thread
passed through the hole and was stopped by a knot at its extremity. We
think that this interpretation of the use of these objects can hardly be
called in question.
We also find in the lacustrine settlements woven fabrics, threads,
strings, combs used for carding the flax, and spindle-whorls; the
co-existence of all these objects proves that the invention of the art
of weaving may be fixed at this date. The loom of the weaver may,
therefore, be traced back to the most remote ages.
Acting upon this idea we have given a representation of _weaving in
pre-historic times_.
The weaving-loom is so simple a matter that the men of the bronze age
were enabled to produce it in nearly the same form as that in which it
exists in the present day for the manufacture of plain kinds of cloth in
various districts of the world where the art is still in a barbaric
condition. The loom being upright, not horizontal as with us, the terra
cotta weights just mentioned were used to keep the threads of the warp
stretched. This seems to be the only difference. But, as we again
repeat, the weaver's loom, on the whole, must have differed but very
slightly from that of the present day. Its productions bear testimony to
the fact.
Metal weapons and implements were at first obtained by means of
exchange. But very soon the art of manufacturing bronze became prevalent
in Switzerland, and foundries were established there. No doubt can be
entertained on this point, as a mould for celts or hatchets has been
found at Morges and also a bar of tin at Estavayer.
During this epoch the shape of the pottery became more advanced in
character, and ornamentation was the rule and not the exception. After
the indispensable comes the superfluous. Taste in ornamentation made its
appearance and soon developed itself in ceramic objects of an elegant
style. Articles of pottery now assumed more pleasing outlines, and were
ornamented with various designs. Progress in artistic feeling was
evidently manifested.
The simplicity and monotony of ornamentation during this epoch is
especially remarkable. Art was then confined to the mere representation
of a certain number of lines and geometrical figures. They were similar
to those represented in fig. 206, and were applied to all kinds of
objects--weapons, vases, utensils and trinkets. None of them attempt any
delineation of nature; this idea does not seem to have entered into the
head of man during the bronze epoch. In this respect they were inferior
to their predecessors, the inhabitants of the caves of Périgord, the
contemporaries of the mammoth and the reindeer.
[Illustration: Fig. 206.--Principal Designs for the ornamentation of
Pottery during the Bronze Epoch.]
During the period we are now considering, commercial intercourse had
assumed an activity of a totally different character from that
manifested during the Stone Age. It became necessary to procure tin,
which was indispensable for the manufacture of bronze. As no tin ore
could be found in Switzerland, the inhabitants, doubtless, went to
Saxony in order to obtain it. The traffic must have been carried out by
means of barter, as is customary among all infant nations.
Flint, which likewise did not exist in Switzerland, was necessarily
procured from the surrounding countries which were more fortunate in
this respect. No country was more favoured on this point than France;
commerce must, therefore, have existed between the two countries.
At Concise, in Switzerland, some pieces of white coral were found, and
at Meilen, on the banks of the Lake of Zurich, some fragments of amber;
from this we may conclude that during the bronze epoch the inhabitants
of Switzerland traded with the inhabitants of the shores of the
Mediterranean and the Baltic.
Among the other specimens of foreign productions, we must not omit to
mention graphite, which was used to surface pottery, amber beads, and
even a few glass trinkets suitable for female adornment.
We will now pass on to the system of food adopted by man during the
bronze epoch.
Researches made in various lacustrine settlements have furnished us with
very circumstantial information upon the system of food customary among
the earliest inhabitants of Switzerland. From them we learn that these
men did not live solely upon the products of fishing and hunting, but
that they possessed certain ideas of agriculture, and also devoted
themselves to the breeding of cattle. We shall enter into a few details
as to this eminently interesting aspect of their history, taking as our
guides Professors Heer and Rütimeyer, the first of whom has carefully
examined the vegetable remains, and the second the animal relics which
have been found in the lacustrine settlements of Switzerland.
At Meilen, Moosseedorf, and Wangen, some charred cereals have been
found, viz., barley and wheat. The latter was the most abundant, and, at
Wangen in particular, there were several bushels of it, either in ears
or in thrashed corn collected in large heaps. These grains are almost
the same shape and size as the wheat of the present time. Several ears
of six-rowed barley (_Hordeum hexastichon_) were found, which differ
from our common barley in having smaller grains arranged in six rows. De
Candolle is of opinion that this is the species which was cultivated by
the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans.
This corn was preserved in large earthen vessels, as may be gathered
from the contents of some of them, still in an entire state.
What preparation did the corn undergo in order to render it fit for
human food? On this subject we have tolerably exact data to go upon.
The grain was bruised by hand, either between two stone discs or
mill-stones, or in a mortar by means of a round pestle. In almost all of
the lacustrine villages, some of these mill-stones made of granite or
sandstone have been met with, a few of which are as much as 2 feet in
diameter. M. Heer is of opinion that the grain was parched before being
pounded, and then placed in vessels and slightly soaked. In this state
it was fit for eating.
At the time of the conquest of the Canary Islands by the Spaniards, it
was remarked that the natives prepared their corn in this manner; and in
the present day the inhabitants of the same regions still feed on
parched grain.
Nevertheless, the earliest inhabitants of western Switzerland also made
real bread, or rather wheat-cakes, for leaven was not then known.
Charred fragments of these loaves have been found, the grain of which is
badly ground, thus affording us the opportunity of recognising the
species of corn of which they are composed. These fragments are flat,
and indicate that the whole cake was of a circular form. No doubt, after
being bruised and wetted, the grain was made into a sort of dough, which
was baked between two heated stones--a process we have previously
described as having been practised in the Stone Age.
In order to cultivate cereals, it was, of course, necessary for the
ground to undergo some preliminary preparation. It was at least
necessary to break it up so as to mellow it, and to make furrows in
which to sow the seed. We are reduced to mere conjecture as to all the
details of these operations, for no agricultural implements have been
discovered in any of the settlements of man belonging to the bronze
epoch. Perhaps, as M. Heer suggests, they made use of the stem of a tree
with a projecting crooked branch, and adapted it so as to perform the
functions of the plough.
Wild fruits and berries formed a considerable portion of the food of the
earliest lacustrine peoples; and, from certain indications which have
been brought to our notice, we have reason to believe that several
varieties of trees were the objects of their intelligent culture; in
short, that they were cultivated in orchards and gardens. The settlement
of Robenhausen on the Lake of Pfæffikon, has furnished us with the
most valuable information on this point. The lacustrine villages of
Wangen (Lake of Constance), and Concise (Lake of Neuchâtel) have also
been the scenes of curious discoveries.
In all of these settlements a large number of charred apples have been
met with, cut in two, and sometimes four pieces, and evidently stored up
for the winter. These apples are no larger than walnuts, and in many of
the Swiss forests a species of apple still exists which appears to be
the same sort as those found in the lacustrine settlements. Pears have
been discovered only in the settlement of Wangen; they were cut up and
dried just like the apples.
In the mud of the lakes, stones of the wild plum and the bird-cherry, or
Sainte-Lucie plum, were found; also the seeds of blackberries and
raspberries, the shells of beech-nuts and hazel-nuts, and several
species of the water-chestnut, which is now only to be met with at two
points of the Swiss Alps.
We must also add that M. Gilliéron collected in the settlement of the
Isle of Saint-Pierre, oats, peas, lentils, and acorns, the latter
evidently having been intended for the food of swine. This discovery is
an important one, because oats had, hitherto, never been met with
anywhere.
We shall complete this list of names by enumerating the other vegetables
which have been ascertained to have existed in the lake settlements, the
berries and seeds of some of which were used as food, &c. They are the
strawberry, the beech, the yew, the dog-rose, which is found in hedges,
the white and yellow water-lily, the rush, and the forest and the marsh
pine. There are no traces of the vine, rye, or hemp.
Fig. 207, representing _the cultivation of gardens during the bronze
epoch_, is intended to sum up and delineate materially all the ideas we
have previously suggested concerning the agricultural and horticultural
knowledge possessed by man during the bronze epoch. A gardener is
tilling the ground with a horn pick-axe, a representation of which we
have previously given. Others are gathering fruit from trees which have
been planted and cultivated with a view of increasing the stock of food.
[Illustration: Fig 207.--The Cultivation of Gardens during the Bronze
Epoch.]
The sheep and oxen which may be noticed in this figure indicate the
domestication of these animals and of their having been reared as tame
cattle. The dog, the faithful companion of man, could scarcely have
been omitted in this assemblage of the auxiliary or domestic animals of
the bronze epoch.
The bones which have been found in the lacustrine settlements of
Switzerland have enabled us to reconstruct with some degree of accuracy
the _fauna_ of this epoch, and to ascertain what species of animals were
then in subjugation to the yoke of man.
Professor Rütimeyer is of opinion that the whole of these bones may be
referred to about seventy species of animals--ten of which are fish,
three reptiles, twenty birds, and the rest mammiferous animals.
The remains most commonly met with are those of the stag and the ox, the
former wild, and the latter domestic. Next in order comes the pig,
remains of which are also very abundant; then follows the roe, the goat,
and the sheep, all of which are much less common. The remains of the fox
are met with almost as often as those of the latter species, and in
spite of the foetid smell of this animal it certainly was used for
food--a fact which is proved by its bones having been split open and
notched with knives. It is, however, very probable that this kind of
sustenance was turned to as a last resort only in cases when no other
more suitable food could be obtained.
The long bones which have been found in lakes, like those met with in
caves and kitchen-middens, have been split in order to extract the
marrow. Just as in the kitchen-middens, the softer parts are always
gnawed, which shows us that the dog had been there.
The repugnance which is felt by so many nations for the flesh of the
hare is a very curious fact, and shows us how difficult it is to root
out certain prejudices. This repugnance may be traced back as far as
pre-historic ages. Neither the diluvial beds, the caves, the
kitchen-middens, nor the lacustrine settlements have, in fact, furnished
us with any traces of the hare. Even in the present day, the Laplanders
and Greenlanders banish this animal from their alimental list.
Among the Hottentots the women eat it but not the men. The Jews, too,
look upon it as unclean, and many years have not elapsed since the
Bretons would hardly endure to hear it spoken of.
The antipathy which is thus shown by certain modern nations to the flesh
of the hare has, therefore, been handed down to them from the primitive
ages of mankind.
The researches of Prof. Rütimeyer have led to the conclusion that
there existed in Switzerland during the Stone Age six species of
domestic animals--the ox, the pig, the goat, the sheep, the dog, and the
horse, the latter being very rare. There were, also, three specimens of
the bovine race; the two wild species of the ox genus, namely, the urus
and the bison, both very anciently known, had been increased by a third,
the domestic ox.
The bones belonging to the Stone Age seem to point to the existence of a
larger proportion of wild beasts than of domestic animals; and this is
only what might be expected, for the art of domesticating animals was at
this epoch still in its infancy, but a commencement had been made, and
the practice continued to spread rapidly during the following age.
In fact, agriculture and the breeding of cattle made considerable
progress during the bronze epoch. There were brought into use various
new breeds of cattle. The ox became a substitute for the bison; the
sheep was bred as well as the goat; and all these animals were devoted
to the purpose of providing food for man.
[Illustration: Fig. 208.--A Feast during the Bronze Epoch.]
We may here pause for a moment and contemplate, with just pride, this
marvellous resuscitation of an era long ago buried in the darkness of
bygone ages.
By means of the investigations of science, we know that the primitive
inhabitants of Switzerland dwelt in wooden villages built on lakes; that
they were hunters, fishers, shepherds, and husbandmen; that they
cultivated wheat, barley, and oats; that they brought into a state of
servitude several species of animals, and devoted to the requirements of
agriculture the sheep and the goat; that they were acquainted with the
principal rudiments of the baker's art; that they stored up apples,
pears, and other fruits or berries for the winter, either for their own
use or that of their cattle; that they understood the art of weaving and
manufacturing flaxen fabrics; that they twisted up cord and mats of
bark; and, lastly, that as a material for the manufacture of their
implements and weapons they availed themselves of stone, bronze,
animals' bones, and stag's horn.
It is equally certain that they kept up some kind of commercial
intercourse with the adjacent countries; this must have been the case,
if it were only for the purpose, as before mentioned, of procuring
flints, which are not found in Switzerland; also amber and white coral,
numerous relics of which have been met with in the settlements of Meilen
and Concise.
Though there may still remain many an obscure page in the history of
mankind during the bronze epoch, it must, nevertheless, be confessed
that, as far as Switzerland is concerned, a bright light has of late
years been thrown on that branch of the subject which refers to man's
mode of existence in these regions during the bronze epoch.
FOOTNOTE:
[36] See 'The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland,' &c. p. 323, by Dr. F.
Keller. Translated and edited by Dr. J. E. Lee. London, 1866.