Wood

«   »

Wood was a day-to-day material of prime importance to the ancient peoples of the Alps. Apart from its obvious use for the piles and platforms and for the palisade around the settlement, wood, which the lake-dwellers worked with confident skill, was used to make the majority of household utensils, weapons for war and hunting, canoes, etc. Clearly then, both in range and numbers, wooden objects once far outnumbered those which have survived to be catalogued by the archaeologists. Cutting implements were used to carve the smaller items; the larger were first burned away before being planned or carved. The commonest objects are bowls, dishes, plates or the handles of unknown implements - most probably used to prepare food. Weapons comprise clubs with spherical heads, throwing sticks and bows. The discovery of a plough with a sharply-pointed coulter and a pole for the beam shows the agricultural use of woos. A dug-out canoe is a class of find which provides ample scope fro creative theorizing.