In Kallnach, some eight kilometers to the east of the Bielersee, a villa was discovered in 1967. A few rooms, including heated bathing rooms, were excavated then and on several later occasions.
Plan of the remains with the dates of excavation. Zwahlen 2012(2), Abb. 4.
In a room adjacent to a large room with a hypocaust (M; 5.20 x 3.70 m.) a black-and-white mosaic was found in 1999. The only decoration were little black crosses. It was made in the second half of the third or in the early fourth century.
Left: room M with the mosaic.
Right: detail of the mosaic.
Photos: AKB 6A (2005), Abb. 272-273.In 2008 fragments of paintings were found in a wide exedra (P). It is situated to the north of an area measuring 15 x 16 m. that may have been the palaestra, the area for sports. A pinax was depicted, a mobile painting with two doors that could be closed to protect it. The fake pinax measures 0.45 x 0.33 m. On a white background, above a green band, are two gold-coloured vessels. Behind the vessels is a blue-and-orange olive branch. Both the vases and the branch indicate prizes in sports competitions. The painting was made in the late second or early third century.
The painting from exedra P. Photo: Dubois 2017, Abb. 4.
Literature
Archäologie im Kanton Bern 4A (1999), 72-73; 6A (2005), 207-211; Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte 83 (2000), 240; Zwahlen-Büchi 2009; Jahrbuch Archäologie Schweiz 92 (2009), 300; 93 (2010), 248-249; Fuchs 2012; Zwahlen 2012(2); Zwahlen-Lüscher 2013; Delbarre-Bärtschi 2014, 248, 321; Dubois 2017; Dubois 2020.
[10-Mar-2024]
