Small sondages at the apex of the promontory have revealed settlement evidence comprising fragments of major buildings, mudbricks, and painted plaster accompanied by Attic pottery, local wheel-finished wares and indications of a diet rich in game. An elite milieu is indicated at Littré, with localized stratification intimating successively a HaD1/D2 (with black-figure) and D3 (with red-figure) horizon. Elements of this were confirmed in excavation at the Hôtel-Dieu (Augier et al. 2007). South and thus outwith the postulated defences, some two kilometres away, sub-rectangular features interpreted as workshops were encountered at Saint-Martin-des-Champs (Milcent 2007) and elsewhere (e.g. Hôpital Baudens). This craft area, claimed to demonstrate a regular layout, provided evidence for e.g. lignite bracelet manufacture and ironsmithing in contexts which also furnished imports indicating wine consumption (Attic red-figure; Massaliote amphorae), a pattern which varies considerably from the ‘top down’ models of elite consumption and redistribution that normally prevail. Similar workshops, also intimating copper-alloy jewellery-making, horn-working and weaving, as well as iron-working (Filippini 2015) were found interspersed with other features at Port-Sec, over an extensive area (c. 11 ha excavated) 3 km east of the core across the marshy Yèvre river valley (Augier et al. 2012; Ralston 2007). An admixture of functions is indicated from examination of the Établissements militaires during 19th century development and again recently: burials (including secondarily within storage pits), a substantial ditch, and further indications of craft-working. Barrows and other burials (e.g. route de Dun) from the immediate vicinity and the broader hinterland produce copper-alloy imports and limited evidence for vehicles from Les Grands Danjons and notably including a burnt waggon body at Les Carrières de Bachon, Lazenay (Milcent 2004). After Late Bronze Age and Hallstatt C antecedents (including long swords of the latter period) from wetland and burials in the vicinity, the high point of Bourges in occupation terms, when it may have extended to c. 200 ha, seems to be represented by Hallstatt D3/La Tène A1. The evidence from Port Sec Sud strongly suggests wholesale abandonment, with the systematic backfilling of features, at the end of this phase. Although not wholly deserted, Bourges declined very rapidly thereafter, with only vestigial evidence for a continuing use of the site until its subsequent, Later Iron Age, resurgence.
Further to the west of Mont Lassois lies a site that in the 5th century BC apparently surpassed all other centres of power north of the Alps: Bourges in the Berry region of France (Augier et al. 2007,2012; Milcent 2007). Until a few years ago, the site of the settlement was best known for the Late La Tène oppidum that is mentioned in the written sources. This was indeed the site of the mighty town of Avaricum, the capital of the tribe of the Bituriges and which Caesar besieged and captured. It is inthe context of this event that we have the famous description of the fortification in the form of a murus gallicus (Caesar, De Bello Gallico VII, 23), although it has hardly been possible to find archaeological traces of the Late La Tène settlement.The fact that Bourges has been continuously settled until the present day means that we have only a patchy image of the internal structure of the Iron Age settlement, and then above all of peripheralareas. In spite of this restriction, work carried out in recent years has produced important informa-tion on the Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène periods (Augier et al. 2007, 2012; Milcent 2007, 2014; Ralston 2010). In the 5th century BC an enormous settlement with several foci stretched around the promontory on which the cathedral today stands. The entire settlement complex coved several hundredhectares, although the density of settlement in some areas was relatively low (Figure 8). Just as withother Fürstensize, Bourges was a combination of rich burials, an acropolis and suburbs characterised by artisanal activities. Settlement on the promontory began at the beginning of the 6th century BC, but Bourges reached its zenith in the third quarter of the 5th century BC, in other words at the same timeas the Heuneburg and Mont Lassois were abandoned.
P.-Y. Milcent has identified this mighty Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène settlement with the capital of the legendary kingdom of Ambigatus (Milcent 2007). According to Livy (V, 34), underAmbigatus the Bituriges were the most powerful tribe in Gaul, but due to the pressure of overpop-ulation they sent large groups of people to Italy and the Balkans. Since this event is generally dated around 400 BC, and about this time settlement at Bourges more or less ends, it is tempting to link thetwo events. In other words, the end of this central place could have been the result of the emigration of large sections of the population to Italy in the course of the famous ‘Celtic’ migrations. Although this is no more than a hypothesis, it nevertheless shows what sort of scale we are dealing with at sitessuch as Bourges. Here we are at the threshold of Prehistory to early History, when the first towns northof the Alps were established and archaic states came into being around centres such as the Heuneburg or Bourges.
Urban Experiences in Early Iron Age Europe: Central Places and Social Complexity
No comments:
Post a Comment