depliant guide - Site archéologique et musée d`Ensérune

Visit
The museum
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Glossary
Attic ceramics: pottery varnished in black, produced
in Athens and decorated with black or red figures.
Cob: ground-up mixture of clay and straw or hay
used in the assembly of half-timbered walls.
Dolium, plural dolia: Latin name for a large
earthenware vase used to store foodstuffs (wine,
oil, water).
Fibula: pin used to fasten clothing.
Graffiti: dry-point inscriptions made on vases
after firing.
Iron Ages: the first lasted from 750 to 450 BC,
the second ended with the Roman conquest of
Gaul in 50 BC.
Orle: metallic border on a shield.
Postern: pedestrian passageway built into a retaining
or fortification wall.
Sigilated ceramics: glossy red pottery featuring
relief-moulded decoration.
Umbo: strengthening part for the central section
of a shield, also decorative.
Visitor information
Average length of visit: 1½ hours
Gift and book shop
The guide to this monument is available in three
languages in the “Itinéraires” collection from gift
and book shop.
Centre des monuments nationaux
Site et musée d’Ensérune
34400 Nissan-lez-Ensérune
tél. 04 67 37 01 23
History
Information
illustration Jean-Benoît Héron. conception Plein Sens, Anders. réalisation Marie-Hélène Forestier. traduction InPuzzle. impression Stipa, septembre 2013.
History
Visit
The museum
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Information
The museum
The museum is housed in a villa built in 1915 and
redesigned in the 1940s by Jules Formigé.
ground
floor
Originally a farming village
Of the first inhabitants of Ensérune remain some
pottery and rudimentary oil lamps, as well as some
iron farming implements. Ceramic items of Etruscan
provenance indicate contact with central Italy.
Greek and Iberian influences
Around 450 BC, trade intensified greatly, as illustrated
by the objects of Greek, Punic (Carthage), Celtic and
Iberian origin. The first Marseilles coins used for trade
emerged around 250 BC. Iberian ceramics and graffiti*
demonstrate that Ensérune was strongly influenced
by Spain.
A Romanised town
The many coins from both the Republican and Imperial
eras show the dominance of the Roman economy over
the region. The refinement of everyday objects bears
witness to the enrichment and social development
of the inhabitants. The sigilated ceramics* originating
from La Graufesenque are very finely decorated. Razors,
tweezers, combs and make-up palettes reveal the
importance of physical appearance. Jewellery, and in
particular fibulae* in bronze, some of them decorated
with coral, intaglios in semi-precious stones and gold
rings were used to embellish both clothing and body.
History
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upper
floor
The Félix Mouret collection
This is a collection of beautiful objects discovered in the
necropolis by Félix Mouret between 1915 and 1925.
Exceptional Attic* ceramics produced in the 4th century
BC, feature decoration in black varnish with red figures,
depicting scenes from mythology or from everyday life.
The Procris and Cephalus cup demonstrates the artistic
quality of the items produced during this period. The
vases’ names reflect their use: the crater contained wine
mixed with spices, and the cantharus was used to decant
liquids. These were later reused as funerary urns. The rich
Celtic decorative objects or armaments in bronze, such
as the helmet, swords and belt buckles, testify to the
presence of a Celtic warrior population.
The Jannoray room
Excavations at the necropolis teach us much about
the development of burial rites: initially, the deceased
were cremated and their ashes buried in a pit dug in
the ground. Later, the deceased were cremated on a pyre,
and their remains collected in an ossuary vase, around
which were arranged their personal belongings and food
offerings. Tomb 163 is the grave of a warrior, recognisable
by the sword and sheath, richly decorated with dragons
incrusted with coral, the small, finely-worked chains
hanging from the sheath, the umbo* , and one of the
orles* of his shield, incrusted with bone which once
embellished a wooden box. The items associated with
the deceased accompanied them in death, and have
enabled archaeologists to identify them.
www.monuments-nationaux.fr
*Explanations overleaf.
Visit
The museum
Information
Ensérune
archaeological site
and museum
English
A Romanised Gallic village
An oppidum
The hill of Ensérune offers a vast surface area,
and its steep slopes provide natural protection
which explains the establishment of an elevated
settlement, or oppidum. This type of hilltop village
is characteristic of the Celtic world of Iron Age*
southern Gaul. The site was discovered in 1860
by Abbot Giniès.
Human occupation
From the 6th to the late 5th centuries BC, an early
settlement was founded in scattered fashion on the
plateau. The modest huts were built from cob* and
covered with branches. Excavators have associated
them with a number of silos cut into the rock and
used to store provisions.
Between the late 5th and late 3rd centuries BC,
a veritable town came into existence. Sturdy
embankments were added to the north and south
slopes, forming terraces on which buildings were
constructed. Streets ran between stone houses and
dolia* replaced the silos. A cemetery was created
to the west, at a distance from the residential area.
From the late 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD,
the town became more regular in its organisation,
and extended out across the flanks of the hill. The
largest houses adopted Roman architecture, with
rooms arranged around a courtyard, columns with
capitals, mosaics and decorative paintwork.
*Explanations overleaf.
History
Visit
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The museum
Information
Excavations began on the plateau in 1915, led by
Félix Mouret, then by Louis Sigal, Jean Jannoray,
Joseph Giry and Hubert Gallet de Santerre,
continuing until 1967. The visible remains represent
just one tenth of the area occupied by the village.
The grounds around the museum are laid out like a
Mediterranean garden, and the site offers panoramic
views of the sea, the plains of Orbet and Aude,
and Montady lake.
N
necropolis
11
12
The northern flank
2 A street serves this residential district running
alongside the retaining wall, now reinforced with
gabions. All along its length sit single-room stone
houses dating from the 2nd century BC to the
1st century AD. The walls reuse older elements and
feature a detailed design composed of large blocks
arranged vertically.
For grain conservation, they are equipped with a silo
or dolium* , identifiable by its earthenware neck.
3 The column house had a wood-timbered roof,
and perhaps even an upper floor. Its vast scale is
evidence of the influence of Roman town planning
on the settlement.
4 A postern* , constructed when the village became
urbanised, provided access to the spring, located
about 400 metres away at the foot of the hill.
The necropolis district
The road visible below is the only known means of
access to the village from the plain. It probably led
to the Via Domitia which connected the colonies
of Béziers and Narbonne with the Rhone Valley to
the north and Spain to the south. On its Gallo-Roman
pavement can be seen traces of ruts left by wagons.
“château d’eau” district
10
The terrace
1 Montady lake was emptied in the 13th century:
the drainage system occupies a star-shaped plot of
land, directing the water towards a central discharge
point. From there, the water is conveyed along an
underground stone gallery of around 1.5 km in length,
passing under the Malpas and flowing towards the
lakes located to the south.
The Château d’eau district
13
Canal du Midi
9
5 A central sewer, running along the
middle of the street, which has been
uncovered, discharged waste water to the
north, running alongside the postern steps. It
illustrates typical Roman town planning and
rational use of water.
The run-off pipework cut into a block of stone,
one end of which received the vertical downpipe,
channelled rainwater to the silo/water tank. 18 water
tanks, some for private use, others communal, have
been found on the site, serving the residential areas.
The craftsmen’s district
This illustrates the expansion of the town towards
the west of the plateau from 225 BC onwards. During
excavations, the number and nature of the objects
discovered (winepress, iron items, dolia* etc.) attest
to the presence of numerous workshops founded
during the 1st century BC.
6 The large water tank still has the remains of its
waterproof rendering made from tile-fragment mortar.
7 The collapsed columns were reused for the base
of a winepress.
8 A wall of large stones built against the plateau
provides support for the upper developments.
craftsmen's
district
A ticket office
B museum
shop
northern flank
6
7
8
54
1
14 B
The southern flank
3
15
southern flank
The necropolis had some 500 incineration graves
and was one of the largest Gallic burial sites in
Languedoc. Established around 400 BC, it was
redeveloped several times, then covered over
by a residential area around 200 BC.
11 A large rectangular hall was divided into two
spaces by a central colonnade, the five stone bases
of which can still be seen. Wooden columns probably
supported roof timbers.
12 A vast and luxurious house built around a central
courtyard with four columns – identifiable by the
grey gravel – consisted of about ten rooms over
a surface area of around 500m², consistent with
the model for Italic houses.
13 More modest houses and craft workshops
developed to the north from 200 BC onwards.
2
16
17
A
to car park
9 The house, protected by a modern roof, retains
an example of black and white diamond mosaic work;
its walls were given a painted rendering similar to
the panels displayed in the museum.
10 An area of silos occupies the other side of the
street; another larger unit is located close to
the lower car park.
14
15
16
17
This other residential district was made up of
single-storey stone houses, built between 425 and
225 BC. Some of them were altered during the
subsequent period.
A large water tank from the Gallo-Roman era
is located behind the museum; the disappearance
of part of its waterproof rendering reveals its fine
cut-stone design.
Another oblong water tank still contains water.
Originally, the tanks were all covered.
The row of houses running along the right of
the path is built against the south retaining wall.
Opening directly onto the street, they included
a cellar with a clay floor.
One room houses five dolia* for the storage
of foodstuffs.
*Explanations overleaf.