Sunday, May 15, 2022 - Bibracte - a Gaulish Oppidum

 There were many Oppida in Gaulish France, especially in the hundred years leading up to the birth of Christ. An Oppidum was a fortified Gaulish town and after 52 BC when Julius Caesar defeated Vercingetorix at Alesia (which happens to be in Burgundy), these towns continued to be Gaulish, but under Roman rule. Hilltops were favored places to erect an oppidum - easier to protect.

So today we're off to explore the museum and archeological site of the oppidum of Bibracte on Mont Beuvray in the Morvan. 

entrance to the museum

First stop, the museum, which turned out to be a great plan. The museum is spectacularly arranged to help one understand who the Gaul were, what their civilization was like, and how over a hundred years time the Gaulish communities within the oppidum transformed into Roman cities. 

displays are organized in small stations of like information

The museum is modern, completed in 1996 has light pouring in from all sides and large glass panels that make you feel that you are standing in the forest. It is also well equipped to handle handicapped visitors to its two levels of displays. The one way system of moving through the museum also moves you through time in the oppidum's history. It also keeps things flowing and people moving in this spacious museum. We spent a lot longer in the museum than exploring the actual archeology site. Really well done and really interesting.

a display of seeds found in the area

Dave studying one of the multi-media boards

They have a system of audio guides (in English and other languages). At certain points along the museum displays, there are dots that you point your audio controller toward and then press the OK button. The guide then played information about that particular part of the display. Our guides didn't always work, but there were enough other English descriptions to get the context of the display. 

What we learned put a whole new spin on who we thought the Gauls were. Prior to the time of the oppidum, Gallic tribes were agricultural societies rather than forest tribes. For some reason, from the 2nd century BC populations increased, agricultural output increased, and mining and processing of natural resources increased trade along the roads where settlements flourished. A new type of city organization took place, the oppidum, which had a political hierarchy within a large area of well-fortified walls. Within the oppidum, a complex society functioned with differentiated workshops focused on trading goods and agricultural products.

There were several hundred oppida in the century before Caesar's conquests and several million members of numerous Celtic and Gallic tribes. (We learned that all Gauls are Celts, but not all Celts are Gauls. Whew! Glad we cleared that up.) Clearly, these tribes interacted with each other, traded goods, and took ideas from each other since all oppida have spectacular fortified defensive walls, diverse economic activity, and were at a peak in the 1st century BC. 

Julius Caesar spent a winter in Bibracte when he was writing his book on the Gallic Wars. Caesar was impressed by Gaulish fortifications. 

How Gallic defensive walls were built: light color is dirt, dark is logs, nailed together with spikes at the intersections. 

model showing how a wall was built - stones were only used on the outside

model showing walls being built; quite ingenious

The fortifications that Caesar admired were extensive, in the case of Bibracte, 5 km circling the top of Mont Beuvray. Stone and timbers were used to create wide straight-walled barriers. 

Houses were made from wood. 

model of a Gallic house

Several thousand Gauls of the Aedui tribe lived in Bibracte at its height.  When Caesar first came to Gaul, the Aedui were accepting of and even helpful to the Roman armies. They did side with Vercingetorix in the Gallic Wars. Somehow after the war ended in 52 BC, the Aedui continued to live in Bibracte which became increasingly Romanized, building public buildings and aristocratic homes out of stone. Of particular interest to the Gauls was the importation of Italian wines - at very inflated prices-which helped put money into Caesar's coffers. These days, we are all buying Burgundian wines at inflated prices. Some things never change.....

wine amphorae imported from Italy

40 years after Caesar's conquest, Bibracte was abandoned for Autun, a city in the plains rather than in the mountains. And even after Bibracte was abandoned by the Gauls, there was a religious presence through the middle ages which kept Bibracte from entirely disappearing. Archeologists became interested in the site over 100 years ago.

We picnicked on the grounds of the museum and then headed off to explore the archeological findings on the mountain top. I couldn't visit most of them, but Dave told me that some of them were fantastic and others were unimpressive to a non-archeologist. Here's what he saw: 

the spring - water source for the oppidum

foundations of a Roman villa

foundations for the medieval cloister

foundations of Roman era civic buildings

the basement of a Gallic house - who knew the Gauls had basements?

reconstruction of a piece of the earthen wall fortifications

I feel like I'm beginning to understand the character of Burgundians just a little bit more after today. Tomorrow's a catch-up, cleaning day, so not much activity to be had then.