In Bernex, near the church of St. Maurice, buildings forming part of a villa were excavated in the years 1968-1972 by Daniel Paunier. The main house was not found. The church probably stands on top of the remains. The total area of the building complex would then have measured some 230 x 123 m. The latter measurement is that of the short side of an enclosing wall.
The church of St. Maurice, which may be on the spot of the main house. Photo: Wikimedia, RomanDeckert.
View of the excavations in 1968, with the church in the background. Photo: Paunier 1970, 15.In the west side of the wall surrounding the complex was a gate, with a passage 4.50 m. wide between flanking walls 6 m. long. Five secondary buildings were excavated: A-E. Building A seems to have been a house. Inside, two hearths and an oven were found. Building C may have been used for storage. The pottery and 72 coins suggest that the complex dates back to the reign of Augustus and was used until the late fifth century.
Plan of the site. Paunier 1973(1), 14.Near the gate, outside the enclosing wall, a fragment of an inscription of limestone was found, to be supplemented as DIV(um) FVLG(ur) C(onditum). Therefore it belonged to a place where a "divine bolt of lightning" had been ritually "buried" (an alternative reading is DIV(m) FVLG(ur) C(onditum) for a bolt of lightning that had struck by day). Paunier suggests that a Neolithic axe of polished stone, found a few meters away from the inscription, is associated with it, for example as a material expression of the manifestation of Jupiter.
EDCS-08500463. H. 0.14, w. 0.19. Photo: Paunier 1973(2), Fig. 1.
Literature
Paunier 1970, 1971(1), 1971(2), 1973(1), 1973(2), 1975; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 366-367.
[22-Nov-2023]
