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Introduction The paintings in the peristyle The paintings in the outer porticus The silver hoard The Gallo-Roman temple |
At the west end of the village of Yvonand, at the locality Mordagne, a villa is documented through excavations and aerial photos. The aerial photos show an enclosing wall measuring 160 x 480 m., with the outline of many economy buildings. Originally there was a main house at the south end, built in the early first century. In the early second century another main house was erected at the north end. It was enlarged at the end of the second century, and the southern house was then torn down. Some more work took place after a fire in the late third or the first half of the fourth century. To the south of the enclosure was a Gallo-Roman temple.
Plan of the villa in the early first, early second and late second century. Dubois et al. 2003, fig. 14.
The northern part of the villa as seen on Google Earth, July 2022. The western half of the northern main house is visible.The first objects emerged in 1838: a bronze statuette of a winged Victoria and a bronze Corinthian capital, now in the Cantonal Museum of Archeology and History in Lausanne. There is hardly any documentation from the early years and what was written is confusing. A mosaic of Orpheus is mentioned, with fishes. Is it the mosaic from the villa at Yvonand-La Baumaz, or a mosaic at Mordagne? Two black-and-white mosaics were taken from the building in 1859 and 1907.
Bronze statuette of a winged Victoria, found in 1838. Photo: Wikimedia, Rama.
A black-and-white mosaic taken from the building in 1859. Photo: Von Gonzenbach 1961, Taf. 25.
A series of proper investigations of the northern main house began in 1976. In the eastern part rooms were arranged around a peristyle. Many fragments of the columns of its porticoes were found. They were made of limestone and fluted. On three sides the columns were of the Tuscan order, on the fourth, northern side they were of the Corinthian order. The Tuscan columns must have been 3.05 m. high, the Corinthian ones 4.32 m. In the garden between the porticoes were two basins. The western part of the house, including baths, has not yet been excavated. In the early 21st century trenches were dug in the southern main house. The Gallo-Roman temple was now excavated. The final publication of the excavations has not yet been published.
Left: a Corinthian capital. Right: a Tuscan capital. Photo: Dubois 2005, 9.
Introduction
The paintings in the peristyle
The paintings in the outer porticus
The silver hoard
The Gallo-Roman temple
Literature
Von Gonzenbach 1961, 234-238; Revue historique vaudoise 87 (1979), 243-244; 88 (1980), 252; Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte 62 (1979), 156; 63 (1980), 252; 64 (1981), 256; 68 (1985), 262; 74 (1991), 281; 75 (1992), 230-231; 76 (1993), 223; 81 (1998), 311; 82 (1999), 301; 83 (2000), 256; 84 (2001), 254; 85 (2002), 334-335; Colombo 1982; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 565-567; Paratte-Dubois 1994; Dubois 1996; Dubois 1999(1); Dubois 1999(2); Dubois-Paratte 2001; Dubois et al. 2003; Dubois 2005; Weidmann et al. (eds.) 2007, 66-69; Dubois 2010; Ebbutt et al. 2011, 56-57; Delbarre-Bärtschi 2014, 282-283; Dubois et al. 2018.
[24-Mar-2024]
