In the 1980's almost half of the terrain of a villa was excavated in Biberist (to the south-east of Solothurn) at the locality Spitalhof. Most of the walls were built in the second century and in the first half of the third. The north and east part of the complex were investigated. The main building was in the south part and has not been excavated.
Plan of the excavated part of the villa. AdKS 7 (1991), Abb. 3.
Reconstruction drawing of the villa, seen from the north-west. Historisches Museum Olten.The complex was enclosed by a wall with, on the outside, a ditch for drainage. In the south part of the east wall was a gate. The road leading to the gate had a surface of gravel. There was a second, interior enclosing wall with a porticus (F, M). Building G in the internal area has been interpreted as a stable. Building H turned out to be a tomb. To the south only a few post holes were found. In the north part of the external area were a storage building (D) and a house (E). In the east part was a row of houses, storage buildings and workshops, including a smithy (B).
The gate in the external wall and building O, seen from the north. AdKS 7 (1991), Abb. 4.The quadrangular tomb H (about 9 x 9 m.) was a mere wall, not a roofed building. It has been dated to the years 150-175 AD. The tomb was marked by a high stone slab, set up in the interior. It may have carried a painted text. In a stone urn (0.88 x 0.63 x 0.60 m.) the remains were found of three cremations: a man (about 50 years old), a woman, and a newborn child. They were buried at the same time. It is not clear what caused their deaths (the Antonine plague perhaps?). A large number of burned grave goods and personal belongings was found: crockery and storage vessels (at least 330 pieces), and objects of stone, bronze, iron, lead, bone, and glass (including a bone dice and dark green glass beads of a necklace). The personal offerings included a dog and a songbird, which were placed on the funeral pyre with the deceased. A pit was used for sacrifices (nut shells and remains of fruit were found). The tomb thus illustrates a remark by Caesar:
Funera sunt pro cultu Gallorum magnifica et sumptuosa; omniaque quae vivis cordi fuisse arbitrantur in ignem inferunt, etiam animalia. Their funerals, considering the state of civilization among the Gauls, are magnificent and costly; and they cast into the fire all things, including living creatures, which they suppose to have been dear to them when alive. Caesar, De Bello Gallico VI,19,4. Translation W.A. McDevitte and W.S. Bohn.
Reconstruction drawings of the funeral and the sacrifices. Schucany 1995, Abb. 20.In a pit immediately to the north of the structure the skull of a young cow or bull was found. It has been suggested that it was originally attached to the entrance of the structure. About Celtic sacrifices Pliny the Elder says this:
Sacrificio epulisque rite sub arbore conparatis duos admovent candidi coloris tauros, quorum cornua tum primum vinciantur. Sacerdos candida veste cultus arborem scandit, falce aurea demetit, candido id excipitur sago. Tum deinde victimas immolant praecantes, suum donum deus prosperum faciat iis quibus dederit. Having made all due preparation for the sacrifice and a banquet beneath the trees, they bring thither two white bulls, the horns of which are bound then for the first time. Clad in a white robe the priest ascends the tree, and cuts the mistletoe with a golden sickle, which is received by others in a white cloak. They then immolate the victims, offering up their prayers that God will render this gift of his propitious to those to whom he has so granted it. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia XVI,95. Translation by John Bostock and H.T. Riley.
Reconstruction drawing of the entrance. Descher-Erb 1999, Abb. 4.
Literature
Schucany 1995; Schucany 1996(2); Kaufmann - Hillenbrand-Unmüssig 1998; Deschler-Erb 1999; Schucany 2000(1); Schucany 2000(2); Deschler-Erb 2003; Schucany et al. 2006; Schucany 2016.
Plus: Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte 66 (1983), 275-276; 67 (1984), 213-214; 69 (1986), 199-220; 70 (1987), 218-219; 71 (1988), 264-265; 72 (1989), 323; 73 (1990), 205-206; Archäologie des Kantons Solothurn 3 (1983), 121; 4 (1985), 104-105; 5 (1987), 157-158; 6 (1989), 131-135; 7 (1991), 112-115; Archäologie und Denkmalpflege im Kanton Solothurn 5 (2000), 66-71; 24 (2019), 78.
[1-Jan-2024]
