|
Introduction Baths Religion |
A settlement in Massongex, on the Rhône, some 18 kilometers to the north of Martigny, must have been called Tarnaiae. The name is documented in the Itinerarium Antonini, on the Tabula Peutingeriana, and in the Ravenna Cosmography.
Plan of the settlement. Drack-Fellmann 1988, Abb. 409.
1: ancient shore of the Rhône; 2: bridgehead; 3: posts of bridge; 4: Jupiter altar; 5: baths; 6: houses and workshops;
7: remains of buildings; 8: aqueduct (?); 9: marble blocks. Interrupted line: suggested road and location of bridge.It has been suggested that there was a bridge connecting the settlement with the modern village of Bex in the canton Vaud. Remains seen in Massongex in 1873 could have belonged to a bridgehead (nr. 2). In 1976 wooden posts with iron shoes were found in the Rhône (nr. 3), but dendrochronology could not provide a date. At the same occasion large blocks of limestone were found in the river, possibly the remains of a supporting pier. Old descriptions of Massongex also mention an underground aqueduct (nr. 8), and blocks of white marble that may have formed part of a monumental building (nr. 9). Small parts of houses and workshops have been excavated since the 1980's.
Introduction
Baths
Religion
Literature
Comtesse 1921; Tamini 1934; Collart 1941; Van Berchem 1944(2); Blondel 1955; Pelichet 1955; Thirion 1956; Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 45 (1956), 48-50; Von Gonzenbach 1961, 131-134; Revue historique vaudoise 89 (1981), 167-169; Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte 65 (1982), 191-193; Wiblé 1987(1); Chronique Vallesia 1987 (1988), 221-224; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 443-444; Drack-Fellmann 1991, 176-177; Wiblé 1994; Paratte 1996; France 2001, 90-92; Paccolat et al. 2001; Bossert-Neukom 2004, 122-124.
[23-Jan-2024]
