From time immemorial a legend prevailed among the inhabitants around
Lake Paladru that a city had been buried in its waters--a catastrophe
brought about by the maledictions of the monks of the neighbouring
Carthusian establishment of Sylve Bénite. On the 24th September, 1864,
M. Vallier, of Grenoble, and some friends arranged a boating excursion
for the purpose of examining the lake as to the reported existence of
piles in it, with the view of accounting for the currency of the above
legend, and found no less than six different sites where piles were
to be seen projecting more or less from the mud. These were supposed
to be the remains of lacustrine villages of which the following
particulars were ascertained:--
1. STATION DES GRANDS ROSEAUX.--This station was situated near the
head of the lake, and about two hundred yards from shore; depth of
water from one to two feet; piles sometimes three feet apart, and
sometimes much less; over 150 were counted.
2. STAT. DE L'ILE DE LOYASSE.--Two hundred and fifty yards from the
former, and about 100 yards from shore. Only about twenty piles were
counted.
3. STAT. DE LA GENEVRIÈRE.--About 600 yards farther on and 70 yards
from shore. About twenty piles counted.
4. STAT. DE LA NEYRE.--About 200 yards from the preceding, and close
to the shore.
5. STAT. DU PLÂTRE.--About thirty piles counted in water from 10 to 13
feet deep.
6. STAT. DU PUITS DES CARPES.--Fifty or sixty piles observed close to
each other and about 20 yards from the shore.
These indications of pile-dwellings, though strengthened by further
observations by M. Vallier in the following year, really contributed
little to the elucidation of the problem as to the period to which
they belonged; so that the work of M. Vallier, "La Légende de la
Ville d'Ars sur les Bords du Lac de Paladru," leaves the question
much in the same position as it was left by Professor Fournet, who
had already suggested, in 1860,[48] that the legend of the buried
city had its origin in the former existence of lake-dwellings. It
remained to M. Ernest Chantre, of Lyons, to make the first practical
investigations to clear up the mystery. To this line of research he
was led by the encouragement and knowledge he had received at the
first meeting of the International Congress of Prehistoric Archæology,
held at Neuchâtel, in 1866, when he had an opportunity of being
initiated by Professor Desor and others in lacustrine research. His
first efforts, an account of which was published in the _Matériaux_
for 1867, showed that two of the stations mentioned by M. Vallier
belonged to the Iron Age. Learning then that engineering works were
in progress for regulating the outflow of the waters of this lake,
which would have the effect of lowering its level, M. Chantre deferred
his proposed excavations till these more favourable conditions should
be accomplished. His subsequent investigations, conducted in the
autumn of 1870, were confined to the first-named station (Grands
Roseaux), which, from his former experience, gave greater promise of
archæological results. From it he had already picked up some bones of
the ox, pig, stag, etc., the kernels of a species of small cherry and
of two kinds of plums, fragments of pottery of a different kind from
any found in the Swiss lake-dwellings, an iron knife, and a wooden
comb. Owing to the lowering of the lake the station was now (1870)
a foot above water, and it could be easily examined by the spade on
_terra firma_. In the excavations which ensued the following strata
were met with:--(1) Eight inches of peaty mud and roots of water
plants; (2) About eighteen inches of peat containing bits of worked
wood and bones; (3) Ten inches of peat containing bones, fragments of
pottery, and a great variety of antiquities; (4) Underneath this peat
was the whitish lake sediment known as shell-marl.
The area occupied by the piles and wooden beams was about 1,600
square yards in extent, and of a somewhat circular shape. The tops
of the piles were water-worn, and projected above the mud from one
foot to one foot and a half. They were made of the stems of trees
from 10 to 16 feet long, and 7½ to 15 inches in diameter, some being
squared and pointed with the hatchet, and most of them penetrated
to the shell-marl. Their distance from each other varied very much.
Many were observed to be in groups of four, rectangularly placed,
with cross timbers stretching between them, thus forming a series
of square or rectangular chambers. The cross-beams overlapped each
other, and each had a cutaway cavity at the point of crossing, which
kept it in position, precisely on the principle on which the Swiss
chalets are constructed at the present day. The walls of the submerged
compartments contained some four or five of these transverses, and the
space enclosed varied from 7 to 30 feet long. In the larger spaces the
uprights were not restricted to the corners, but occupied intermediate
positions inside the enclosed area. Numerous tenons, mortises, pegs,
and other portions of worked timbers, proved that these structures
were erected by the hatchet and chisel alone, as none showed any
evidence of the use of the saw; nor were there any iron nails found.
The woodwork was so abundant, that the removal of it became a regular
employment; and for its discovery the mud was probed with iron rods.
In two places a double row of piles stretched to the shore, one 230
feet and the other 130 feet long, which, there can be little doubt,
were the remains of gangways.
The industrial relics (=Fig. 93=) consisted largely of iron objects,
among which were several knives (No. 3), an axe (No. 11), an · awl,
a gimlet, part of a pair of shears (No. 2), a chisel, part of a lock
(No. 8), chains (No. 7), several keys (No. 9), horseshoes (Nos. 5
and 6), a curry-comb (No. 10), a spur (No. 12), a lance (No. 4), and
portions of a javelin.
[Illustration: =Fig. 93.=--PALADRU. All ⅓ real size.]
Of other materials there were two bone-counters (Nos. 14 and 15), a
sharpening stone, the half of a leaden bracelet (No. 1), and a number
of wooden objects, viz. two combs (No. 21), spoons (No. 19), pestles
(No. 17), a bobbin (No. 20), and some perforated bits, like floats for
nets (Nos. 13 and 16).
Pottery is of a greyish-black colour, well baked, and fashioned on the
wheel, with an ornamentation of a very unusual character (Nos. 18, 22,
23, and 24). The only entire vessel was flask-shaped, having a hole
in the middle of one of its sides (No. 24). Some pieces of cloth like
Roman tissues, and a portion of a Roman vase, were also found.
The animals identified from the bones were the ox, sheep, goat, horse
(a small race), pig, dog, and a large-sized otter. Among the remains
of fruits were two species of cherry, two species of plums, peaches,
walnuts, hazel-nuts, acorns, etc.
Oak was the only wood used in the construction of the submerged
foundations, with the exception of one trunk of a chestnut tree; but
ash, cornel-cherry, and box had been used for making utensils. (B.
193.)
In 1885, owing to the lowness of the water in the lake, further
discoveries were made on this station (Grands Roseaux). Immediately
in front of the lacustrine village, on its lake side, a triple row
of piles was detected, which appeared to have acted as a breakwater;
and on its site, along with some great oak-beams, were found various
relics of a similar character to those already described. Among these
were the following iron objects of the Carlovingian period--viz.
17 knives, 2 keys, a hook, a pair of shears, a stirrup, 2 spurs,
a portion of the umbo of a shield, and some horseshoes of a small
size. The other objects recorded were two portions of wooden spoons,
fragments of a comb made of yew, and a piece of goatskin.[49]