Villa in Vallon (Sur Dompierre, Canton de Fribourg, Switzerland)

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Garden

Keywords

Garden Description

Located 6km south-east of Avenches/ Aventicum, the capital of the Helvetian tribe, this site is situated on a small alluvial terrace at the bottom of a hillside. The area is bordered by a stream, the Laret, characterized by a flow, sometimes torrential, that has fluctuated during the past centuries. To the west, on the right bank, stands the rocky spur of Carignan (Fig. 1). Due to the relatively restrictive topography, human settlements favoured the left bank until the Middle Ages.

On the spur east of the stream, a building made of a light structure, apparently isolated, is constructed at the beginning of the 1st c. CE; it is bordered on its southern and northern sides by two roads. During the years 30/40 CE, a peripheral gallery on wooden pillars is placed around it. Its layout rather suggests an annex of a villa rustica or perhaps even a simple house in an urban context. Between 50 and 70 CE, it is surrounded by two other constructions, which together with the first building take on the characteristic shape of an "L". The northern house is made of several habitation rooms; as it is bordered by a portico, it recalls the dwelling places of the medium-sized villae rusticae discovered in Switzerland. The southern building, surrounded by galleries, is laid out around a 100 m2 large kitchen, containing a large central hearth, which separates, to the south, the rooms designed for habitation, and the areas, to the north, apparently dedicated to utilitarian activities. At the back of the southern construction, a fourth building was erected, a barn (horreum) recognizable because of the network of pillars that supported an elevated floor.

A wall section, placed under a later separating wall, already indicates the existence of a division of the area between the northern and southern parts of the garden. The occupation layer is marked by a number of undated hollow structures. A ditch, boarded on the east by two big oval pits, distinguishes itself by its orientation which is parallel to the front of the central building, but its function still remains unknown: could it be an early garden arrangement? The only palynological analysis undertaken in a trench opened in the north building, suggest a tree canopy composed of a mixture of oaks, birches and hazel trees, in the second half of the 1st century CE; alders and willow trees could be found along the stream banks. An abundance of ferns and conifers grew in the surrounding areas. Herbaceous vegetation was intermingled with cereals. The information in our possession is too scarce to allow us to interpret it as a garden. Traces of equidistant posts or peg holes appear to form the outline of structures that are still difficult to explain (light arbour-like construction?). This open space is confined by a small bank to the south. Below it, the area is crossed by two long perpendicular depressions that could have a natural origin (paleochannel?), re-used as rubbish disposals at the beginning of our era. The south-east oriented channel, originally interpreted as a clay extraction pit, was cleared over a distance of approximately thirty meters. It was seven to eight meters wide, 1,2 meters deep and contained, in its lower part, several conduits made from pine trees (fig. 3). These timber elements were not assembled but stored in a humid environment before being used. The preparation and preservation of wood for plumbing systems, suggests the existence, from the first Antique settlements, of a very elaborate running water supply system, its use in domestic and/or handicraft or farming activities still needs to be clarified. Dendrochronology reveals two time series, dated to the autumn/winter 3/4 CE and 32/33 CE. These dates, that are contemporary with the first building stages of the villa, are very early for Switzerland and are close to Avenche's first dated constructions.

The edges of the channel, which are gradually filled in, are bordered by two small fences in the last quarter of the Ist century; these fittings may be the result of a wish to stabilize the banks of the channel, clearly still under water at that time. Later on, the channel is filled in by a new rubbish disposal that seals the fences. We know nothing about the appearance of the area (courtyard or garden?) which extended between the channel and the southern building.

The profound architectural developments that took place in the three habitation buildings from the years 150/160 CE, had repercussions on the gardens (fig. 2). The occupation layer of the courtyards to the west of the buildings is raised by bringing in a large amount of ballast material. The subdivision of the garden zone is not precisely known. To the west of the constructed area, in the northern area bordered by the waterway, a pedestal indicates the presence of a statuary decoration that will be removed by the next generation. A long masonry wall, decorated with pillars presumably sculpted, is the only partition element brought to light. It marks the boundaries of an area interpreted as an ornamental garden, onto which the northern building and the northern part of the central building open. Divided into two zones, the oriental part of the northern garden is covered with tiles, revealing in its northern corner a fountain; it is replaced, in its western part, by soil around which a fence was probably built. It communicates directly with a second ornamental garden situated on the side of the central building, maybe destined for the private use of the family and close relatives. Here too, the remains are sparse: a patch stretches along the separation wall with the northern garden. A path followed the central building. Others must have crossed beds of plants edged with vertical ceramic elements. In other places, wooden posts formed rows that are still difficult to elucidate but that may indicate the outline of arbours. In the same place were found meander shaped ditches which do not follow the exact same orientation as the buildings (fig. 4). Were they hedges that were part of a vegetal maze? Despite the absence of palynological facts, they can be compared to the ditches excavated in the gardens of the Fishbourne Villa (England) or to those in the pars urbana of Dietikon's villae (canton of Zurich).

At the end of the first archaeological excavations (1985-2000), we favoured the hypothesis of a subdivision of the area to the west of the buildings into three juxtaposed courtyards which echoed the tripartition of the constructions. They contained two ornamental gardens, in the north and in the center, and a courtyard that sheltered a kitchen garden and an orchard at the front of the southern building, dedicated to utilitarian activities (fig. 5). The recent research does not support a division of the area into three distinctive courtyards (2006/2010). The second garden, which presents a regular incline to the south, does not show any tangible boundary. Did it occupy the whole area in the front of the south building, or were they garden arrangements (hedges) dividing it? (fig. 6) Traces of vegetation being very hard to spot on the surface of the ground of the gardens, no definitive conclusion can be drawn.

The recent discovery of the lower part of a pool in front of the south building has also casts doubts on its utilitarian function. The structure itself, laid on a foundation of stakes made from oak and alder wood dated by dendrochonology to the years after 160 CE, has been almost entirely retrieved. The interpretation of this structure is still under discussion: it could be a cistern but it is more likely to be an ornamental pool that could have been enhanced by a parietal mosaic composed of the many glass tesserae that were found nearby. The structure, standing against the south building, would be oriented not towards the construction itself, but towards the courtyard where no garden arrangement has been uncovered.

Whereas the courtyards have offered very few traces for the Early Roman Period, the Late Antique Period marks a turning point in the history of Vallon's gardens. Following a fire, the buildings are reorganized and areas dedicated to handicraft activities appear in the porticoes. A new function is attributed to the courtyards. The rubble of the partially demolished north and central buildings is discarded in the northern garden and the northern part of the second courtyard. To the south of themeander shaped ditches, is built a construction consisting of posts and sill plates, equipped with a ground hearth made out of ceramic tiles. The late occupation of the gardens seems to be linked to the salvage and transformation of building materials collected in the edifices. Other post structures (constructions? enclosures?) almost cover the whole area in the front of the southern building. The archaeological objects found (pottery fragments, over a hundred coins) suggest that this occupation partly covers the IVth century and does not go further than the beginning of the Vth century.

After the disappearance of the Antique site, the land continues to be occupied during the Early Middle Ages. The discovery of channels supports the hypothesis that the areas between the new buildings or on their sides, were well enough built to see the creation of an ornamental garden. However, the remains are too disrupted to allow further discussion.

Maps

Fig. 1: Vallon location map.

Fig. 2 : map of the habitation zone in the second half of the IInd century of our era.

Images

Fig. 3 : pine wood conduits preserved in one of the channels. Photo Fribourg State Archaeological Service.

Fig. 4 : ditches uncovered in the courtyard in front of the central building (2006).

Credit: Photo Fribourg State Archaeological Service.

Fig. 5 : scale model of the habitation area in the second half of the IInd century. Built before the research in the gardens was resumed, it presents a considerable partitioning of the various open spaces. Photo Fribourg State Archaeological Service.

Fig. 6 : watercolour of the habitation area integrating the first results obtained by excavating the gardens. Please note the less significant partition between the different courtyards. The cistern at the front of the south building (to the right) is highly hypothetical; it seems rather to be an ornamental pool. Watercolour: Bernard Reymond, Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland).

Dates

Beginning of the 1st c. CE - beginning of the Vth century

Excavation Dates

1985-2000, 2006/2010

Bibliography

No bibliography listed

Gardens of the Roman Empire

Villa in Vallon (Sur Dompierre, Canton de Fribourg, Switzerland)

Location

Garden

Keywords

Garden Description

Maps

Images

Dates

Excavation Dates

Bibliography

Places