Two buildings of a villa were excavated in 1955 and 1957 in Olten at the locality Im Grund.
View of the excavations. Degen 1957, Abb. 32.
Plan of the site. Degen 1957, Abb. 36.
One building, measuring about 20 x 18 m., consisted of a large hall flanked by a porticus and three rooms. Amongst the finds were elements of horse harnesses, and hinges, keys and parts of locks belonging to chests. In the other building, measuring 13.50 x 10.30, no finds were made. The ceramics suggest that the buildings were erected in the middle of the first century, and abandoned in the middle of the third or somewhat later. The buildings were destroyed by a fire.
In the larger building two statuettes were found: one of bronze, of a winged Victoria standing on a globe, the other of terracotta, of Venus. The statuette of Venus carries the stamp PISTILLV(s). His workshop was active in Augustodunum (Autun, France) around 200 AD.
The bronze statuette of Victoria. H. 0.125. Photo: Degen 1957, Abb. 38.
The terracotta statuette of Venus. H. 0.115. Photo: Degen 1957, Abb. 37.
Literature
Degen 1957; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 462-463.
[6-Jan-2024]
