Collection
The Bronze age is shown with a collection of axes showing the development in the shape of this weapon. It is also illustrated by the "Manson Treasure ", a bronzesmith’s store consisting of more than a hundred items: pieces of horse harnesses, armaments, and decorative items...
The Iron ages are represented by superb pieces such as the bronze helmet from Les Martres de Veyre or the sepulchre at Sarliève where iron and bronze jewels are still visible.
The Gallo-Roman period is undoubtedly the richest, both through the remains of religious monuments (Temple of Mercury at the Puy de Dôme summit), and through the naturally preserved artefacts discovered at Les Martres de Veyre (woollen dress, circa 2nd century AD, glassworks, remains of food and ceramics, ...) or at the Source des Roches in Chamalières (see below).
A remarkable collection of gold and bronze coins should not be missed, in particular a golden stater of Gaulish leader Vercingetorix.
Finally, separate but nonetheless significant discoveries form a key part of the museum’s collection, always in relation to daily life, religion or the world of the dead.
The golden stater bearing the image of Vercingetorix - found in the Billom region. Circa 52 BC.
The votive offerings from the Source des Roches at Chamalières were disco vered in the foundations of a building under construction, in 1968. Two archaeological digs enabled the whole of the site to be cleared and several thousand carved pieces of wood to be recovered. These would have been thrown into the mineral water spring as offerings in the first century AD, by pilgrims who had come to pray to the water god.
The votive offerings were piled up at the bottom of the source, the sides of which had been shored up using stones to facilitate access. The absence of the remains of any buildings nearby means that the site can be described as an open air sanctuary. The carvings, either of beech or oak, are of several types. Most are "healing" votive offerings, namely parts of human bodies: hips, eyes, breasts, internal organs, arms and above all, legs.
There were also full-length or bust only representations of men and women. In addition to these votive offerings representing mankind, other things are depicted, in particular horse statuettes, and many rectangular plates which might once have had inscriptions or paintings.
A.M. Romeuf, M. Dumontet
DRAC Auvergne Service archéologie (Auvergne Archaeology Department)
Recommended:
- the story of the "young girl from Cheix", the oldest human skeleton recorded in Auvergne,
- the Gallo-Roman urn discovered in 1897,
- the Gorgon mosaic,
- the tunic from Les Martres de Veyre.
Reference collections in French museums:
- Musée des Antiquités Nationales (National Antiquity Museum)
Website: www.musee-antiquitesnationales.fr - Bibliothèque Nationale (National Library), Cabinet des Médailles (Coins, medals and antiques department)
Website: www.bnf.fr - Musée de Dijon (Dijon museum)
Website: www.ville-dijon.fr - Musée de la céramique de Lezoux (Lezoux ceramics museum)
Website: www.lezoux.com
