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  • Religion and the world of the dead
    Domain of the divine The imperial cult The gods The oriental divinities The indigenous gods Private cults Christianisation The world of the dead

    In August 1986, the excavations prior to the construction of the new museum led to the discovery of a dwelling on at least three levels including two basements.

    At the south-western corner of the smaller of these two cellars were discovered the remains of a stone-built kiosk, whitewashed on the outside, enclosing two statues and a phallus standing upright on a floor of whitish mortar behind a small circular table.

    Originally, this kiosk must have constituted a miniature temple topped with a double sloping roof covered with tiles. Its internal paintwork shows a white background surrounded by a fringed "openwork" border in primitive colours of green and dark red.

    The largest of the statues, 49 cms tall, is of a man sitting on a cushion, a serpent on his knees. He is wearing a torque around his neck and a second around his right wrist. The second, 42 cms tall, is of a man sitting in an armchair with a priestly demeanour, his two hands lain on his knees, the left holding a purse.

    These two statues made of local limestone were standing side by side, and that their reverse sides were roughly hewn indicates they were designed to be placed next to a wall and not viewed from that angle.

    Chiselled directly in the manner of high relief, they display several errors of proportion and have obviously been made in the workshop of a local artist.

    Both statues have been painted. Examination of the traces of polychromy show that the second figure was covered entirely in yellow, except for the purse and his shoes which were in green.

    The first statue wore a green tunic and breeches of the same colour but with a red check.

    Completed by a long stone reminiscent of a phallus and a figurine of Venus in white clay, found crushed between the wall and the larger of the statues, as well as a small limestone table elegantly moulded around the edge, the group has been dated to the second half of the 2nd century or the beginning of the 3rd.

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    Argentomagus, du site gaulois à la ville gallo-romaine, G. Coulon et Coll. © Editions Errance








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