In 1867 Mr. Delfortrie (B. 136) published a notice of prehistoric
antiquities of the Neolithic Age found in the course of excavations
for the improvement of the town of Bordeaux, which point to the
existence of some kind of marsh dwelling in the very centre of the
town. Attention was first directed to the matter by the quantity of
bones thrown up from the lower part of the excavations, among which
Delfortrie detected some worked ones, and associated with them were
various stone and flint implements.
In regard to the osseous remains, he observes that the lower jaws of
ruminants, which were relatively in great abundance, had their incisor
teeth purposely removed, but the molars were retained. On the other
hand, the upper jaws were entirely absent or broken, like all other
marrow bones.
At three different points forming an almost equilateral triangle of
200 mètres the side, he procured sections of these street cuttings,
in all of which the succession of strata and relics indicated similar
conditions. At one point he gives the following details of a section:--
Mètres.
A. Earth and subsoil } 4·
B. Terramare of Gallo-Roman period }
C. Marine bed with shells ·10
D. Sandy peat ·50
E. Bed of ashes with oyster shells, worked bones, etc. ·50
F. Lacustrine sand ·45
G. Black peat with sand and gravel 1·55
----
7·10
The bones represented the following animals:--Great ox, smaller ox,
stag, pig, wild boar, horse (a small kind), goat, sheep, and dog. Mr.
Delfortrie thinks the bones of the horse show that the animal was
not domesticated. No piles were discovered except in the Gallo-Roman
period. The following shells were found in the marine bed C.:--Ostrea
edulis, Pecten maximus, Mytilus edulis, Venus decussata, Cardium
edule, Mactrea solida, Turbo neritoides, and Trochus cinerarius.
The relics were found chiefly in bed E., among the ashes, a few being
from the sandy peat above it. These consist of pointers, needles,
polishers, spatulæ, arrow-points, and an implement of bone called
a whistle; flint saws, a polished celt also of flint, three small
polished stone celts of serpentine or quartzite, and about a dozen
flint knives.
The opinion of the narrator is that there was here a marsh dwelling
of the nature of the Kökkenmödings of Denmark which in point of time
preceded the Swiss lake-dwellings, but was posterior to the Reindeer
Period of Central France.
In my opinion, the character and finish of the relics furnish no
grounds for supposing that this habitation was prior to the early
Swiss lake-dwellings; nor are we warranted, from such limited
explorations as could be made in the streets of a town, to exclude
the more probable idea that this was an ordinary palafitte,
notwithstanding that piles were not observed.