What is known as Laibach Moor is an extensive but irregularly shaped
plain now nearly all well cultivated, which extends southwards from
the town of Laibach to Ober-Laibach, some 12 miles distant. Previous
to a series of drainage schemes, executed at various times during the
last fifty years, the whole of this plain was a morass or peat bog,
and there can be no doubt that in prehistoric times it was a navigable
sheet of water. It covers an area of about 85 English square miles,
and is interspersed here and there with six or seven rocky eminences,
which, when the locality was under water, formed so many islands. It
is also intersected by the rivers Laibach, Isca, and some smaller
streams, which unite before reaching the town of Laibach, and about
half way up it is crossed by the railway to Trieste. Some years ago a
new road was constructed along the valley of the Isca, from Laibach to
Brunndorf, and in 1875, in the course of excavating a ditch alongside
of it, various bone implements and fragments of pottery were turned up
by the workmen. Mr. Martin Peruzzi, the proprietor, recognising the
archæological value of these objects, at once gave information of the
discovery to the authorities of the Landesmuseum at Laibach. This led
to an extensive series of investigations, which were continued during
the following two years under the care of Dr. Karl Deschmann, curator
of this museum. An illustrated report of the first year's operations
was published by the eminent archæologist, Baron von Sacken (B. 290),
while those of the two following years have found an able exponent in
Dr. Deschmann. (B. 302 and 317.)
The first year's working revealed the foundations of a pile-dwelling
close to the road on its west side, where, by the removal of some
3,000 square yards of peat, quite a forest of piles was disclosed.
These were irregularly placed, but on an average they numbered three
or four in a dozen square feet. They were made of aspen, poplar, elm,
and fir, the last, however, being sparingly used. The peat was about
6 feet thick, and below it was the ancient sediment of the lake into
which the piles were driven, their heads now merely entering into the
peaty stratum. Between the peat and lake sediment there was a thin
layer of organic _débris_, 4 or 5 inches thick, in which alone the
relics of the lake-dwellers were found. In the following year some
2,000 square yards were cleared of peat, partly in the same place, and
partly on the other side of the road. In this new locality the piles
were more closely set and the deposit of peat was a little thicker,
but the character of the relics was exactly the same, only a larger
proportion of the fragments of pottery were ornamented.
[Illustration: Plan of Lake-dwellings in LAIBACH MOOR]
During the autumn of 1877 the site of a third pile-dwelling was come
upon, about 300 yards from the last mentioned, and on the other side
of the Isca (see Sketch, p. 171), under precisely similar conditions
as the two former, but owing to want of funds the excavations were
discontinued before the entire area was searched. Dr. Deschmann is of
opinion that these are by no means the only portions of the moor in
which lake-dwellings existed, as indications of them were found in
several other places along the bed of the Isca. In further support
of this opinion I may mention that in 1857, before lake-dwellings
had attracted attention in this quarter, some objects were found at
Moosthal, in quite a different part of the moor, which point to its
being the site of a lake-dwelling. Here the peat was 10 feet deep, and
at this depth, and lying immediately over the lake-silt, were found
three perforated staghorn hammers, two canoes, and some other objects
of human industry, which, however, were dispersed before Dr. Deschmann
became aware of the discovery.
The relics of human industry collected during these systematic
explorations, with the exception of a few in the Museum of Vienna, are
deposited in the handsome new Museum at Laibach, where they form a
remarkably complete and interesting demonstration of the culture and
civilisation of the lake-dwellers. Some of these are illustrated on
=Figs. 42=, =43=, and =44=.
_Pottery._--Vessels for household use are extremely abundant, and
varied in form and ornamentation. They are all hand-made, and the
quality of the paste appears to have been good--that for the larger
dishes was mixed with rough sand. All the pottery has a darkish
appearance, but most of the smaller vessels had been smeared over with
some black composition. Not a few of these dishes were quite whole, so
that their varied forms and uses may be readily distinguished. They
may be classified as jars, vases, cups, plates, jugs, bowls, flasks,
spoons, etc.; and ordinary handles, perforated knobs, tubular borings
(_ansa canalicularis_) appear to have been indiscriminately used.
Some of the smaller dishes have four or five stud-like processes or
rudimentary feet, and others have a pedestal-like base, slightly
expanding at the lowest point, on the underside of which there is
often impressed the shape of a broad cross (=Fig. 42=, No. 20). The
ornamentation, when reduced into its simple elements, may be thus
stated:--
(1) Straight or wavy ridges, sometimes notched across, and running
upwards or across the body of the vessel; (2) finger or nail marks;
(3) checks made with groups of incised lines crossing each other; (4)
lozenge-shaped spaces alternately plain and lined; (5) herring-bone
pattern; (6) triangles, crosses, wheels, rhombs, and other simple
geometrical figures, sometimes with inscribed figures or lines; (7)
impressions of strings, points, etc. The style of the more highly
ornamented vessels is, though complicated, artistic, and when the
incised lines were filled with a white material, as is supposed to
have been the case with some of them, these patterns on a dark or
black ground must have been very effective. Ornamentation is not
always confined to the outside of the vessel, as may be seen from
=Fig. 43=, No. 8. Dr. Deschmann sees a striking resemblance between
the Laibach pottery, both in manufacture and ornamentation, to that
represented in Dr. Schliemann's works on Troy.
[Illustration: =Fig. 42.=--LAIBACH. Nos. 19 to 24 = ¼, and the rest
= ½ real size.]
Besides the ordinary dishes, there fall to be enumerated under
this heading some two or three hundred spindle-whorls, one or two
cylindrical weights, perforated cones (=Fig. 43=, No. 5), a few
crucibles of superior workmanship (=Fig. 45=, No. 14), a mould for an
axe-head (=Fig. 42=, No. 22), and some other small objects, apparently
toys (=Fig. 42=, No. 21). Among the most remarkable and mysterious
objects are some ornamented images, more or less fragmentary, of
animals and human beings with fantastically-formed heads (=Fig. 42=,
Nos. 11, 23, and 24; and =Fig. 195=, Nos. 5 to 8).
_Stone._--The stone implements, with the exception of rubbers,
hammers, and sharpening-stones, are comparatively rare.
The sharpening-stones are well represented by a variety of
implements--from the small portable hone with a string perforation,
to a large hollow block weighing 220 pounds. Of simple stone axes
and chisels there are only about a dozen good examples, but amongst
them are two little gems--one a hatchet of nephrite (=Fig. 42=,
No. 12), and the other a miniature chisel of greenstone (No. 9).
Perforated axe-hammers number about two dozen (=Fig. 43=, No. 10);
they are mostly of serpentine and well shaped, and the boring is
neatly executed. The flint objects, which amount to about four dozen,
consist chiefly of neatly-formed lance-heads; but amongst them are
a few scrapers and flakes, but hardly one that could be called an
arrow-point (=Fig. 42=, Nos. 1 to 5). Almost unique are two conical
anvils, one of which (No. 18) has metallic particles of copper or
bronze on its flat surface. There is also a polished stone disc
showing the commencement of a perforation near its centre with the
core still remaining.
_Bone and Horn._--A characteristic feature of the Laibach settlements
is the abundance of implements of bone and horn which they have
yielded, and which may be thus classified:--
1. Perforated hammer-axes of staghorn, numbering between 300 and
400, in all stages of manufacture. The most typical forms of these
implements are sketched on =Fig. 44=.
2. Polished daggers, pointers, chisels, etc., varying in length from
4 to 10 inches, amount to many hundreds. The smaller pointers, awls,
and pins, were made of bone splinters and ground to fine points. The
finer daggers were invariably made of the leg-bones of a deer or other
animal. It appears that they were manufactured by sawing or cutting
the bone lengthways and slightly diagonally, so as to have two weapons
out of the one bone, leaving each with a joint for its hilt. One or
two bones were found showing this operation in an uncompleted stage.
Some of these daggers had perforations near the extremity of the
handle-end for suspension.
[Illustration: =Fig. 43.=--LAIBACH. All ⅓ real size.]
[Illustration: =Fig. 44.=--LAIBACH. All about ¼ real size.]
3. The tynes of deer-horns were converted into coarse needles (=Fig.
42=, No. 13), and used probably in the manufacture of nets. Over a
score of these implements have been collected.
4. A few finely-polished objects like hooks are supposed to have been
used as dress-fasteners or buckles (Nos. 6 and 16).
5. Another set of curious objects (No. 7), of which about a score
have been collected, is supposed by Dr. Deschmann to have been used
as artificial bait to catch large fish, just as we at the present day
use an imitation minnow. They are made of the tynes of deer-horns, and
vary in length from 2 to 5 inches.
6. About a dozen or so of very sharp and finely-polished needles made
from the superficial lamina of a rib. The eye, which is at one end, is
either round or elongated (No. 15.)
7. Several hollow bones (some of the wild swan), open at both ends,
and varying in length from 5 to 10 inches, have marks inside, as if
made by the friction of running threads. They are supposed to have
been used in the preparation of thread, and hence go under the name of
"Zwirndreher."
8. Some flat portions of the horns of the elk and the underjaws of
oxen, minus their teeth, were used as polishers.
_Metal Objects._--(=Fig. 45.=) The total number of metal objects
now in the Museum at Laibach, and tabulated as coming from the
lake-dwellings, is 24. They are all either of bronze or copper, as
hitherto not a trace of iron has anywhere been met with. The following
is a list of them:--
1. Two flat-handled bronze swords 21 and 14½ inches long (Nos. 3 and
4).
2. Three bronze daggers, 11½, 8, and 7½, inches long (Nos. 2, 1, and
7). The larger has four rivets for fastening a handle; the next has
six rivets, and the blade is beautifully ornamented; and the third has
two rivet-holes, arranged differently from those in the other two.
3. A winged bronze celt (No. 5); and one of the flat type (No. 9),
said to be of copper.