Dig Reveals Incredible Luxury Of Celtic Tribe That Helped Caesar To Invade Gaul

Story By: Joseph GolderSub-EditorJoseph Golder, Agency: Real Press

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Archaeologists in France have unearthed 15 rare lead coffins filled with valuables that belonged to members of a Celtic tribe that cemented its power by supporting Julius Caesar in his invasion of Gaul.

They have found exquisite jewellery and other very rare items that reveal the aristocrats buried in the necropolis were close to the Imperial epicentre, Rome.

They even found an incredibly rare diatrete vase, also known as a cage cup, that represents the highest point in Roman glassmaking technology. Only around 10 complete specimens are known to exist and this one has above its decorative motifs the phrase: “Vivas feliciter” (Live in bliss) reserved only for the most eminent people, a further indication of the local tribe’s close connection to the imperial power.

Picture Credit: Christophe Fouquin/INRAP/Real Press

The dig took place in the small city of Autun, the Saone-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region, in central-eastern France, which used to be known as Augustodunum.

The Aedui tribe that oved there made an early alliance with the Romans in 121 BC and then appealed to Julius Caesar for help when they were invaded by the German Ariovistus, allowing Caesar to use the exc use of helping his old allies as a pretext to invade Gaul in 58 BC.

The Aedui then arguably became the most powerful people in the country, after the Romans. While they later briefly supported Gaul leader Vercingetorix, they eventually resumed their alliance with Rome.

It is around this time that the Aedui moved their capital from Bibracte (now Mont Beuvray) to Augustodunum, now Autun. In 48 AD, the Romanised Aedui elite became the first of the Gallic peoples to be allowed to send senators to Rome.

The city of Autun is currently dominated by the 12th-century, Saint-Lazare cathedral and has been an important site for Christianity since the Late Antiquity (roughly 250 AD to 650 AD), and this latest dig has revealed the tombs and coffins of rich aristocrats who were buried with ornate, gold threaded clothing and exquisite jewellery.

The work is being carried out under the watchful eye of the INRAP (‘Institut National de Recherches Archeologiques Preventives’; the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research), the government body overseeing the research that is currently being carried out on just part of the vast necropolis surrounding the city.

In a statement by INRAP obtained by Real Press, they said: “During the 3rd and 4th centuries, the three main necropolises in Autun were in decline simultaneously as a new mortuary site was emerging at around 250. This necropolis seems to have become the main one in the city during Late Antiquity. While the reasons for this transfer are still unclear, this necropolis presents a new significant feature: high social diversity.

Picture Credit: Christophe Fouquin/INRAP/Real Press

“This necropolis emerged during the dawn of the Christianisation of the Roman world but preceded the installation of nearby churches, such as that of Saint-Pierrel’Estrier, during the 5th-6th centuries. Though the exhumed remains do not directly confirm the religious affiliation of the deceased, the necropolis must have included inhumations of the first Christian community in Autun. A few mortuary inscriptions, including the famous stela of Pektorios, confirm this. Discovered in the 19th century near the site, this 4th century inscription is one of the earliest records of Christianity in Gaul.”

Little is known about the period, according to the INRAP. The tombs and coffins were buried during the period at the very end of antiquity, and at the beginning of the mediaeval period. This necropolis, according to the INRAP, was operational from the middle of the 3rd Century to the 5th Century, at a time when Christian cults regaining popularity and influence throughout the Roman Empire.

While the site had been known about for a long time, it had only been partially excavated in the 1970s.

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Carole Fossurier has been leading a team of archaeologists and anthropologists to unearth its secrets. They have uncovered 15 lead coffins which all contain human remains.

Ms Fossurier said: “This is one of the most important locations of lead coffins in France. It really is very rare to have so many.”

According to the INRAP, burying people lead coffins was not only unusual at the time, but the practice did not endure. The archaeologists have not found any gravestones or other clues as to the identities of the people found in the coffins.

Archaeologist Nicolas Tisserand explained that the fact that some of the coffins were full of mud means that the bones inside have been well preserved, and this should make their job easier when it comes to analysing the contents.

At the time, Christianity was only just beginning to be implanted in Roman Gaul, but Autun is known as a city that saw many early converts to the new faith, as early as the end of the 2nd Century. Saint Symphorian, the town’s first martyr, was killed in 180 AD.

Mr Tisserand explained: “the Christian community grew almost immediately because Autun was an important town. […] We also know that over the years, Autun turned itself into an ecclesiastical epicentre.”

Picture Credit: Denis Gliksman/INRAP/Real Press

According to the archaeologists, the presence of this religious elite is very visible in the necropolis. One of the many elements of interest that they have unearthed are the foundations of a small, rectangular mausoleum, “at the heart of which is a tomb.”

Mr Tisserand theorised: “This person was probably an important figure in the city.”

Christianity is a religion was still being elaborated and for the archaeologists, these transformations are visible in the tombs they have unearthed. The necropolis is replete with numerous different burial styles and traditions.

Ms Fossurier said: “None of the tombs are identical.”

She added that some were more like coffins, made of wood, while others were tombs made of sandstone. Others still were made of lead. There was even the grave of a baby, who was apparently buried inside an amphora.

Ms Fossurier explained: “Burials using amphorae was quite common during the Antiquity and Late Antiquity periods.”

A few metres away, there was a large stone sarcophagus, which appeared to be hermetically sealed and in which the archaeologists found a lead coffin.

Inside that coffin, they found the skeleton that was far better preserved, they said, in any of the others they had found so far during the dig. They also found gold thread in this coffin, indicating that the person buried there was probably wealthy and important.

Picture Credit: INRAP/Real Press

During the dig, they also found the cage cup, where INRAP noted: “The most exceptional object is a cage cup or vas diatretum, of which only around 10 complete specimens are currently known. Complete, though fragmented, it will be carefully restored.

“All these elements demonstrate the presence of members of the high aristocracy of Augustodunum in this necropolis. The new archaeological discoveries corroborate the Antique sources. The Aedui elites, close to the emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) are thus mentioned in the Panegyrici Latini or the Laudes domini, considered the first Christian poem of Roman Gaul.”

The dig also revealed beautiful jewels and accessories, including hairpins made out of amber or jet.
The archaeologists also found solid gold earrings and a garnet ring featuring a red stone with a fish symbol carved into it. The fish is known as a symbol of early Christians.

For Ms Fossurier: “the diversity of these different types of burials nicely illustrates the fourth century, a time when, in the end, everyone could be buried in various ways, because society at the time did not have that many norms in place, and the same can be said of the funerary world.”

These incredible findings are now going to be studied in laboratories in a bid to find out more about the people buried in the necropolis and the funerary practices of the era.

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