To the east of Murten (in French Morat) was a villa on a terrace at the locality Combette. It was investigated for the first time in the early 20th century. Extensive excavations were carried out in the years 1986-1995. The main house and a few subsidiary buildings were unearthed.
View of Murten. Photo: Wikimedia, Clement Dominik.Post holes testified to the existence of a first building, probably from the first half of the first century. It was replaced by a masonry building in the middle of the century. This building was in turn replaced at the end of the century. The rooms were situated behind a corridor and on three sides of a courtyard with a porticus. The building had some heated rooms, and was decorated with limestone columns and slabs, paintings and mosaics.
Plan of the villa. Agustoni 2001, fig. 1.
Amongst the finds were a phallic amulet, a lamp in the shape of a peacock, and two small votive axes. Fragments of two terracotta statuettes were found: a female head, and the upper part of a standing Minerva. On the head of the latter is a curious, large helmet, on the chest a Gorgoneion, the head of Medusa. This statuette may come from the workshop of Pistillus in Augustodunum (Autun, France), active around 200 AD.
A lamp in the shape of a peacock, a phallic amulet, and a votive axe. Photos: Agustoni et al. 2008, fig. 20.
The statuette of Minerva. Drawing and photos: Moreno Conde-Mauvilly 2000, Abb. 2.
In the area with the subsidiary buildings a roof tile was found in which text had been scratched before the firing: OF(f)ICINA M(arci) AVR(eli) SVP(---), "Workshop of Marcus Aurelius Sup()" (there are many cognomina starting with Sup, of which Super is the most common). Also before the firing the upper corners had been cut away to create semicircular shapes. It is the shape that gives the function of the tile away. It was the signboard of a workshop, and must have been placed above a door or attached to a wall.
The signboard of a workshop. W. 0.37, h. 0.278. EDCS-60500061. Photo and drawing: Frei-Stolba - Lieb 2012, fig. 1.
Literature
Agustoni 1995; Duvauchelle-Agustoni 1996; Moreno Conde-Mauvilly 2000; Agustoni 2001; Agustoni et al. 2008; Matthey-Mouquin 2010; Frei-Stolba - Lieb 2012; Mouquin 2015. Plus: Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte 74 (1991), 268-270; 77 (1994), 204; 78 (1995), 219; 79 (1996), 259.
[16-Apr-2024]
