The "Accroupis"

Up to this point, Argentomagus hardly differs at all from other Gallo-Roman sites in respect of the divinities to which it paid homage. But the excavations in the cultural area, plus several other fortuitous discoveries, have yielded a collection of very particular statues. These have been called the "accroupis" - the crouchers.

Numbering seven, which is quite considerable for such a sanctuary in Roman Gaul, they are often large in size and frequently occupy privileged positions within the temples.

Portrayed with their legs folded in the manner of a traditional tailor, the characters affect a priestly demeanour.

Both of the two best preserved examples have come from the cultural area. The larger is wearing a short tunic and a cloak. Manufactured with great craftsmanship, this very fragmented sculpture is inscribed "...AVG-E..." on the base.

The second, smaller and in a remarkable state of preservation, is dressed in a closely-fitting short tunic with a slit up the side. On its back traces exist where the plume of a neck-protecting helmet has been broken off.

This individual is wearing a torque round his neck and a bracelet on each biceps. By his demeanour and his clothes, he would appear to be closely allied with the group of crouching warriors from the south of Gaul.

Do these "accroupis" represent gods? None of them possess any specific attribute. In fact their jewellery is more frequently seen amongst the Celts.

The Mother Goddesses

Divinities of prosperity, the Mother Goddesses discovered at Argentomagus can be divided into two types. The first group, in stone, carry a horn of plenty full of the fruits of the earth and sometimes a round loaf. Seated in an armchair, they are dressed in a close-fitting tunic and a cloak.

The others, smaller in size and made from terracotta, are extremely common throughout the site. Suckling or protecting children, these goddesses are usually to be seen sitting in braided wicker armchairs, offering their breast to a baby. The abundance of these clay figurines demonstrates they were part of a widespread domestic cult enjoying a tremendous popularity.

More original is a statuette of a protective mother goddess in white clay discovered in the courtyard of the temples. Nude, in the style of Venus, she is standing amongst five children of differing ages whom she is shielding protectively with her cloak.

Sucellus

The site has also brought forth a small bronze of Sucellus, the hammer god, whose name, according to linguists, literally means "he who hits well", "the big hitter".

Portrayed as a middle-aged man, with wild hair and bearded, dressed in the Gallic style with a tunic, breeches and a great cascading cloak, he has a vase in his right hand. The long-handled hammer, which he would have held in his left hand, has disappeared.

A god of the earth, good deeds and probably also of death, this statuette is his only known depiction within the Biturige. His small size would tend to corroborate the theory of a personal veneration rather than a collective, organised worship.