Archaeological excavations which took place in 2005 and 2006 on the site of Bois Lamothe (municipality of Biganos) and in Biganos in 2008 under the direction of Luc Wozny brought to light Gallo-Roman and 19th century material.
For the Bois Lamothe excavations, the material found is very fragmented and the shards are small. No item was found complete. In total, 134 shards were unearthed. The dominant colors are whitish (37%), blue/green (34%), light green (11%)
Some shards have been melted under the effect of high heat and form small misshapen blocks or drops (waste from 19th century glass work).
For the 2008 excavations, 198 glass shards were collected. They are from two distinct periods. A significant number of green-colored shards belong to bottles from the 19th or 20th century. The rest of the shards would date from the 1st to the 4th century. The very fragmentary preservation of these makes it difficult to identify the objects. However, it is possible to recognize pots or bowls, one of which has an engraved decoration on the belly. A few shards of flat glass are also identifiable.
Bottles, molded or engraved decorations, vials, jars and flat glass
I-Bois Lamothe
A total of 22 shards representing edges, bottoms, patterns and flat glass were drawn. We can identify 14 different objects (NMI: minimum number of individuals), counted from the feet, bottoms and upper edges of the body.
A- Les bouteilles
Five blue/green bottle bottoms and a handle were found. These are bottles with a molded bottom. The traces of the mould, printed under the bottom, form concentric circles, or more elaborate patterns (floral?)
Background no. 21, less thick than the others, does not have a printed pattern. It may belong to smaller bottles than the previous ones. A ribbed handle was also unearthed. It is attached to a fragment of the shoulder of the bottle. It is blue/green in color like the bottoms of the bottle and can belong to one of them.
These shards belong to square bottles of the Isings 50 a[1] type. The ribbed handle is an indication of the dating of their manufacture: mid-1st century to the end of the 2nd century. The use of this type of bottle continued until the 3rd century and it is very widespread in the Roman Empire because its shape and its solidity were adapted to the conservation and transport of liquids. Many specimens have been found in the region of Poitiers[2] and also in the Bordeaux region such as Plassac[3], Loupiac[4] and in Bordeaux[5], cours du chapeau rouge. Several glassmaking centers have produced this type of glassware, as evidenced by the discovery of mold bases with concentric circles in clay or stone in the dispensaries of Saintes in Charente-Maritime[6], Aquilée in Italy[7], d 'Augst in Switzerland[8].
[1] ISINGS C., Roman Glass, Groningen, Djakarta, 1957. [2] SIMON- HIERNARD D., Verres d’époque romaine, collection des musées de Poitiers, Poitiers, 2000, p. 141-148. [3] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac (Gironde), Revue Archéologique de Bordeaux, tome LXXXI, 1990, p. 39-81. [4] HEBRARD-SALIVAS C., Etude du verre, La villa gallo-romaine de Loupiac, R.O. Marian J., D.F.S. de fouilles programmées, S.R.A. Bordeaux, 2005. [5] SIMON Laure, La verrerie d’époque antique, RFO de fouille préventive cours du Chapeau Rouge à Bordeaux (R.O. Sireix C., Chuniaud K.) Bx 23, avril 2006. [6]HOCHULI-GYSEL A., 85, rue de la Boule, Atelier de verriers de l’Antiquité à la période prè-industrielle,(Actes des 4es rencontres de l’AFAV), Rouen, 1991, p.58. [7] CALVI C., I vetri romani del museo di Aquileia, Aquilée, 1968. [8] RÜTTI B., Die römischen Gläser aus Augs und Kaiseraugst, Augs, 1991.
B- Decorations on flasks or drinking glasses
1-Molded decor
Shard no. 17, greenish in color, belongs to the body of an object blown into a mold decorated with elongated grains. It can be a bottle of the Isings 78e or 91a type which are in the shape of a bunch of grapes. These two types are differentiated by the presence or absence of handles. The first dates from the 1st-2nd c. and the second from the 2nd-3rd c. The small size of the shard found on the site does not allow us to say to which type it may be attached. However, it has large grains that allow it to be compared to type 91 bottles found in burials in the Dunes necropolis in Poitiers[1]. A type 91 bottle was also discovered in a residential context in Targon on the Roustaing site (Gironde)[2]. These objects were made in Germany and the Middle East.
[1] SIMON- HIERNARD D., Verres d’époque romaine,… Poitiers, 2000. [2] SIMON- HIERNARD D., Verres d’époque romaine,…Poitiers, 2000.
2-Decorations with glass nets
Two fragments of glass belonging to objects blown on the fly are decorated with a net of glass deposited hot on their surface.
One of the fragments is blue/green, the other yellow.
This decorative technique was perfected by glass craftsmen from the 1st century on cups and then on drinking glasses in the 2nd-3rd centuries, particularly in the workshops of Cologne in the Rhineland. Two examples, listed in the Poitiers museum, come from Cologne[1]. [1] SIMON- HIERNARD D., Verres d’époque romaine,… Poitiers, 2000.
C- Flat glass
Five flat glass fragments were unearthed. Four of blue/green color, have a smooth and shiny side, and a matte and rough side. Their thickness varies from 5 mm to 1 mm. One of these specimens is a corner of a plate on which we can see the traces of the grippers. These shards come from glass plates cast on a support and then stretched using pliers. We find this type of glass in the Gallo-Roman villas of Plassac[1], Loupiac (Gironde)[2]. They are dated to the 1st and 2nd centuries.
[1] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac (Gironde), Revue Archéologique de Bordeaux, t. LXXXI, 1900, p. 39-81. [2] HEBRARD-SALIVAS C., Etude du verre, La villa gallo-romaine de Loupiac, R.O. Marian J., D.F.S. de fouilles programmées, S.R.A. Bordeaux, 2005 et 2006.
II-Biganos glass discovered in 2008
A- Gallo-Roman period
1- Flat Glass
Three blue/green colored fragments were unearthed. These are two plate edges that were discovered in US 1144 and 1157. The use of this type of glass dates from the 1st to the 3rd century. These shards are smooth on one side, rough on the other and their thickness is often irregular, between 4 and 4.8 mm. This type of glass comes from glass cast on a plate covered with sand. The still malleable mass of glass is stretched on a flat surface covered with sand and then stretched with pliers. This explains the roughness of one side due to direct contact with the support, and the shine of the other side. This flat glass is frequently discovered on Gallo-Roman sites in the region. It has already been discovered in Biganos during previous excavations in 2005 and 2006[1], on the sites of the Gallo-Roman villa of Plassac[2], the thermal baths of Barzan[3].
[1] HEBRARD-SALIVAS C., Etude du verre, Fouilles sous la responsabilité de Luc WOZNY, Biganos (Gironde), « Bois de Lamothe », rapport de fouille préventive sept-nov 2005, Piste cyclable RD 804, SRA Bordeaux, 2006. [2] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac, Revue Archéologique de Bordeaux, tome LXXXI, 1990, p. 39-81. [3] BOUET A., Thermae Gallicae, les thermes de Barzan (Charente-Maritime) et les thermes des provinces gauloises, Bordeaux, 2003.
2-Bowls type Isings 85b/AR 98.1
The colorless upper rim fragment found in US 1184 belongs to a cylindrical bowl type Isings 85b. This type of object was very common in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Many copies have been discovered in Aquitaine, in Lormont[1], in the judicial city of Bordeaux [2], in Plassac[3], in Mas-D'agenais[4], and in Poitou-Charentes as well as in Poitiers[ 5] or in Barzan[6]. Many glasses of this type were extracted from a wreck off the island of Embiez[7]. These glasses came from the Eastern Mediterranean and are dated to the 2nd/3rd century[8]. Fritz Fremersdorf has hypothesized that glasses of this type could also have been made in Cologne[9].
[1] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Verres romains trouvés en Gironde, Verres gallo-romains découverts à Lormont, Aquitania, tome VIII, 1990, p. 122-128. [2] SIMON L. (publication sous presse) [3] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac…, Revue Archéologique de Bordeaux, 1990. [4] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Verres romains trouvés en Gironde,…Aquitania, 1990, p. 121-134. [5] SIMON-HIERNARD D., Verre d’époque romaine, Poitiers, 2000. [6] DUBREUIL F., Le mobilier en verre, Thermae Gallicae, les thermes de Barzan (Charente-Maritime) et les thermes des provinces gauloises, Bordeaux, 2003. [7] FOY D., NEMMA M ;-D., Tout feu tout sable, mille ans de verre antique dans le Midi de la France, Aix-en-Provence, 2001. [8] FOY D., JEZEGOUM.-P., Une épave chargée de lingots et de vaisselle de verre, Verre, tome 3, 1997, p. 65-70. [9] FREMERSDORF Fr., POLONYI-FREMERSDORF E., Die Farblosen Gläser des Frühzeit in Köln, Cologne, 1984.
3- Engraved Cup
Un fragment de coupe gravée à la meule a été découvert dans l’US 1156. Ce décor présente des cupules de forme allongée, des motifs en forme de grain et des croisillons. Il est difficile d’interpréter ce motif : motifs géométriques ? Ce type de décor gravé est présent sur des coupes apodes à panse hémisphérique provenant des fouilles de la Cité judiciaire à Bordeaux. Ce type d’objet est daté du milieu du IIe siècle au IVe siècle.
4-Other bowls or cups
Other collections of objects have been discovered. The first is greenish (1: US 1168), the second colorless (2: US 1156) and the other two blue/green (3: US 1168, 4: 1184).
It is difficult to identify the types of objects because these shards are too small. However, it is possible to place their period of manufacture between the 1st and 4th centuries.
B-19th/20th century bottles
A significant number of shards belong to 19th or 20th century bottles. A complete neck found in US1166 is green in color, the lip is cut clean just barely warmed, and a bead of the same color glass surrounds the neck. This type of manufacture dates from the 18th or the beginning of the 19th century. In Biganos, a glass factory was set up in 1815 and began its activity in 1816. It was the Bordeaux industrialist Olivié who created it (“Capsus” glass factory). Waste from the work of bottle glass has already been collected during previous excavations at Biganos. This bottle may be an example of the production of this glassworks.
The neck (US 1197) of green color whose lip is turned twice outwards then flattened. It could be a small bottle from the beginning of the 20th century of English manufacture.
The stamp that comes from US 1156 is green in color. It is possible to read the letters L and J surrounded by 25 small circles and radiating beams. It is not possible, in the current state of our knowledge, to date this stamp or to say from which region it comes. In the 19th century, stamps on Bordeaux bottles were common and they are also found on bottles of beer, mineral water, oils, spirits and on jars of truffles.
The information provided by the glass material discovered at Biganos in 2008 confirms that which we had gathered during previous excavations: occupation between the 1st and 4th centuries, and glassmaking activity in the 19th century.
Despite the small number of sherds discovered during the three excavations, their interest is undeniable for knowledge of the site.
Some objects belong to fairly common utensils in the Gallo-Roman era, others belong to more luxurious objects and their origin is more distant such as the Rhineland or the Middle East. The presence of glass from these regions is already attested by the discovery of engraved glass during the excavations of the villa of Plassac.
For more information about the site, see the excavation reports, SAR Aquitaine, 2007 et 2008.
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