In Delémont a mausoleum was discovered in 1999 during the construction of the A16 motorway, at the intersection with the Route de la Communance. Only the foundations of the monument had been preserved, a platform of 4.20 x. 2.25 m. It was standing in an enclosure measuring 17.00 x 18.50 m., but shifted to one side. The monument must have been 12-14 m. high, consisting of a base, an aedicula, and a pyramidal roof. Above and in the rubble 583 small fragments were found of its architectural and figurative sculptures, made of local limestone. Deities, Genii, people, and mythological creatures could be reconstructed, truly a remarkable achievement.
The mausoleum during the excavation. Bossert et al. 2011, Fig. D.
Reconstruction drawing with explanations. Bossert et al. 2011, Abb. 32.
Four funerary statues, representations of the deceased who were buried in the mausoleum, could be reconstructed. They were slighty larger than life. Two statues were of men wearing a toga, another was of a young men, the fourth of a woman.
Reconstruction drawing of the four funerary statues. Fragments are indicated by colours. Bossert et al. 2011, Abb.21-24.
Relatively well-preserved was the head of a bearded man. Some fragments seem to belong to an imago clipeata, a medallion with the bust of a deceased man. In another medallion seems to have been a head of Jupiter-Ammon. Other sculptures have been identified as a marine Bacchic thiasos, Genii on sea creatures, sphinxes and griffins.
Fragments and reconstruction drawings of a bearded head (left) and an imago clipeata (right). Bossert et al. 2011, Taf. 20 and 25.
Fragments and reconstruction drawings of a head of Jupiter-Ammon in a medallion and a sphinx. Bossert et al. 2011, Taf. 23 and 28.
Two Trajanic coins provide a terminus post quem for the construction. The typological, iconographic and stylistic analysis of the sculptures has suggested a date in the first half of the second century. The ceramics seem to point to a date in the second half of that century. It has been suggested that the owners lived in a villa on the hill with today's village of Rossemaison, some 800 meters to the south-east of the mausoleum. Unfortunately no fragments were found of the inscription that must once have been attached to the monument.
Reconstruction drawing. Bossert et al. 2011, cover.
Literature
Bossert et al. 2011.
[9-Dec-2023]
