Page:Palæolithic Man and Terramara Settlements in Europe.djvu/430

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PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGY

C ; but at the same time he denies that they are the remains of a pile-structure.

A good idea of the comparative frequency of industrial remains found on terramara sites will be got from a study of Dr Coppi's report of the excavations at Gorzano during the year 1875 (B. 96, p. 21). In this year there were 274 cubic metres excavated, covering an area of 180 square metres; and from this mass of débris there were collected 3051 objects, of which 173 belonged to the upper or Romano-mediaeval stratum, which varied from 1 to 1½ metres in thickness. The rest of the objects, which came from the under strata, and were reckoned prehistoric, are thus classified:—852 industrial objects, 1544 remains of vertebrate animals, 285 remains of molluscs, 153 vegetable remains.

The 852 industrial remains are again thus assigned:—

Bronze. 50 objects, viz., 8 pins, 4 axes, 12 daggers, 1 chisel, 2 awls, 6 discs, 1 spindle-whorl, 2 fragments of sickles, and 14 diverse pieces. Bone. 80 objects, viz., 38 needles and pins (of which 23 are entire), 9 spatulce, 17 pointers, 3 chisels, 6 teeth, 1 lamina, 5 awls, and 1 handle.

Horn. 62 objects, viz., 7 small wheels, 1 cylinder, 1 comb, 2 arrow-points, 17 spatulæ, 12 pointers, 2 awls, 3 ornaments, 2 picks, 4 handles, and 17 diverse objects.

Stone. 68 objects, viz., 2 flint knives, 2 pendants, 4 spindle-whorls, 2 discs, 4 weights, 6 grinding-stones, 1 polisher, 3 flint nodules, 4 flakes, and 30 worked stones.

Terracotta. 585 objects, viz., 494 spindle-whorls (Pl. XXXIX., No. 17), 2 cylinders, 12 weights, 68 vases, 3 covers, 5 percolators, and 1 small animal figure.

The bones capable of being determined represented 15 oxen, 25 sheep or goats, 7 stags, 8 roe-deer, 30 pigs, 2 wild boars, 14 dogs or wolves, 1 cat, 8 birds, 1 tortoise, and 15 toads.

The industrial remains from the upper stratum were as follows :—The central part of a Byzantine crucifix, 1 lamp, 2 fibulae, 3 bronze rings, 12 spindle-whorls of terracotta (of which 4 were glazed), 1 spindle-whorl of amber and 1 of glass, 2 spindle-whorls of talc. Of iron there were 20 darts, 2 lanceheads, 8 knives, 7 keys, 1 lock, 8 buckles, 1 horse-shoe, 1 bullock-shoe, and ii undetermined fragments. 5 fragments of glass vessels, 1 sword-handle of wood with bronze mountings, 4 bronze fragments, 25 pieces of pottery (3 with potter's mark), a small basin of brick, 52 coins (of which 46 were together), some slag, etc.

The objects in the upper stratum were mostly associated with the Oratorio di S. Alberto, built about the early part of the seventeenth century, and other mediaeval buildings now entirely demolished. It was found to have been built over a still older church, which dated from the third century. A few of the coins were Roman, of about the same date, but the largest number dated from the end of the twelfth or commencement of the thirteenth century, and a few were of still later date. There was also a Christian cemetery found, containing a number of skeletons.