Since Gastaldi published his first report on the discovery of
palafittes in the bog of Mercurago by Professor Moro, many additional
objects from this locality have come to light, some of which have
been noticed and figured by Gastaldi in his numerous articles on the
antiquities of Lombardy. The peat is now exhausted, but from these
notices, together with an inspection of the relics still preserved in
the Turin Museum, we can have a tolerably correct notion of this the
first discovered lake-dwelling in Italy. (B. 43, 52, 91, 168, and 294.)
[Illustration: =Fig. 52.=--Plan and Section of portion of TORBIERA DI
MERCURAGO, showing distribution of piles.]
[Illustration: =Fig. 53.=--Cover of Earthenware Vessel (⅓).]
The peat basin of Mercurago is of an oblong shape, and the antiquities
and piles were in a circumscribed place at its northern end, about
130 feet from the bank. Here in a space of 30 feet square, cleared
for antiquarian purposes, were counted 22 piles bound together with
cross timbers (=Fig. 52=). The superficial deposit of peat was about 6
feet in thickness, and the tops of the piles reached half-way upwards,
while their lower ends penetrated from 3 to 4 feet into the lake mud
below. Between this mud and the superincumbent peat there was a bed
of fern, and lying immediately over it were three earthen dishes in
good preservation, one of which appears to be a lid or cover for
another dish (=Fig. 53=), together with a large quantity of the broken
fragments of others, a bronze pin (=Fig. 60=, No. 6), a scraper 4¾
inches long (No. 7), several arrow-heads (=Fig. 54=), and quite a
litter of flint flakes, some shells of hazel-nuts, and stones of the
cornel cherry, etc.
[Illustration: =Fig. 54.=--Flint Arrow-heads (⅔).]
The pottery was made of a blackish paste mixed with coarse grains of
sand or quartz, and a few dishes were ornamented with patterns of
zig-zag scratches separated by parallel lines (=Fig. 60=, No. 13).
Some had handles, and others small ears or perforated knobs, two of
which had portions of string still attached to them (=Figs. 55= and
=56=).
[Illustration: =Fig. 55.=--An Earthenware Vessel, with portions of
string attached to handles (½).]
Among other relics from this station were:--Two daggers of bronze,
one still retaining a couple of rivets for fixing the handle (=Fig.
60=, No. 1); two bronze pins (Nos. 2 and 4); a wooden anchor 3¼ feet
long, terminating at one end with two hooks and at the other with
a hole as if for attaching a rope; a canoe 6 feet long, 3¼ feet
wide, and about a foot in depth (=Fig. 57=); near the canoe lay a
bronze drill (=Fig. 60=, No. 5); and a neat spindle-whorl of baked
clay 1½ inch in diameter (No. 22). Among the more recent finds are
numerous flint arrow-heads and scrapers (No. 8); a spindle-whorl of
soapstone, _pietra ollare_ (No. 16); a wooden dish and perforated
floats for nets; earthenware dishes of great variety (No. 12); and 16
conical beads of vitreous paste, which, when strung together, formed a
handsome necklace (No. 9); and a large cake of burnt clay perforated
in the middle (No. 18).
[Illustration: =Fig. 56.=--Earthenware Vessel (½).]
[Illustration: =Fig. 57.=--Portion of Canoe.]
[Illustration: =Fig. 58.=--Wooden Wheel.]
But the most remarkable objects were two wooden wheels. One (=Fig.
58=) was made of three boards kept together with two crossbars
dovetailed into the boards, and in the centre was a round hole having
on each side of it a semilunar space. This wheel, which was not quite
circular, had an average diameter of 2 feet. The other wheel (=Fig.
59=) was differently constructed. It had six spokes: two of them were
made of the same piece of wood as the nave, and their extremities
formed part of the rim; the other four, two on each side, connected
the fellies with the central piece. The fellies were neatly mortised
together and the workmanship was very good. These wheels were so far
decayed that they could not be preserved, but casts of them were
taken, which may now be seen in the Museum at Turin.
[Illustration: =Fig. 59.=--Wooden Wheel.]