|
Introduction The mosaic in room 1 The mosaic in room 40 The finds from room 40 Some other finds |
An important villa was discovered in 1970 in Vallon at the locality Sur Dompierre, as the crow flies four kilometers to the east of the Lac de Neuchâtel and six kilometers to the west of Aventicum (Avenches VD). It has been excavated since the 1980's. Today the remains are protected by a modern building, also serving as a museum.
Plan of the villa in the third century. Dark yellow: excavations 2006-2010.
Agustoni-Monnier-Buchiller 2010, 71. Room numbers from Fuchs 1992.The villa that is seen today was preceded by buildings from the first century, partly of wood. A new building was erected in the second half of the second and early third century. The rooms were to the north and east of two gardens with fountains and basins (22), separated by a west-east wall. There may have been hedges in the southern garden. At the south end was a cistern, perhaps connected to a latrine (24; previously thought to be an entrance porch).
The rooms of the villa form a north and east wing, behind porticoes with colonnades of fluted columns (5, 9) and a corridor (23). The eastern colonnade was later replaced by an arcade. In the north-west part bathing rooms were installed, two with hypocausts for heating (16, 18). A bit to the east was an apsidal hall (1) with a polychrome floor mosaic with hunting scenes (venatio). An apsidal room in the east part (40) had a polychrome floor mosaic with figures from the cult of Bacchus-Dionysus. The two rooms to the south were heated (42, 43). To the east of the villa a smithy and a storage building (56) have been identified.
In the last decades of the third century the villa partly burned down. Coins provide a terminus post quem of 274 AD. The building was then used again, but on a reduced scale. It was given up around 425 AD.
Reconstruction of the villa. Fuchs 2003, 219.
Reconstruction of the villa, seen from the east, behind the storage building. Fuchs 2003, 222.
Introduction
The mosaic in room 1
The mosaic in room 40
The finds from room 40
Some other finds
Literature
Schwab 1985; Gardiol 1989(1); Gardiol 1990; Gardiol-Saby 1990; Gardiol-Rebetez-Saby 1990; Drack-Fellmann 1991, 267; Fuchs 1992; Rebetez 1992; Fuchs 1995(1); Rebetez 1998; Fuchs 2000; Fuchs 2001; Saby 2001; Fuchs 2003(1); Agustoni-Wolf 2005; Agustoni - Bollinger-Kobelt 2006; Agustoni 2007; Monnier 2009; Agustoni 2010; Monnier 2010; Agustoni-Monnier-Buchiller 2010; Bürge et al. 2013, 76-80; website of the museum.
[16-Nov-2023]
