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Loupiac, archaeological study of the glass of the Gallo-Roman villa (Gironde)

Updated: Jun 16, 2022

The glass studied corresponds to the glass unearthed during the 5 excavation campaigns (2004 to 2008) as well as to the glassware discovered during the excavations of Mr. Pezat from 1953 to 1957 and in 1972.

In total, 531 glass shards were collected, of which 384 belong to tableware and 147 to flat glass. No complete object was found. However, it is possible to estimate the number of different objects (NMI: minimum number of individuals) at 58, but not all of them are identifiable. The indeterminate forms represent 58% of the NMI. This figure is significant and results from the fragmentation of the glass. It is possible to recognize objects from different eras ranging from Ier au VIe siècle.




Four fragments are molten glass shards inserting stone or ceramic fragments. This kind of fragments can be discovered either on production sites of glass objects and corresponds to glass waste, or on a fire site. Here, these fragments were found in wall fills, pit fillings; there is no indication of the presence of ovens. These must be clues to a fire that the villa would have suffered


About twenty small bottles from the 20th century are excluded from this study

Several types of objects have been identified, some of which belong to open forms and another to closed forms
The open forms are essentially composed of goblets, bowls, drinking glasses, cups and plates, the closed forms, bottles and a balsamaire


I- Open forms


A. Cups

- AR 52/ Isings 33

Fragments n° 94 and 95 found in US 2275, blue/green in color, belong to the same goblet which is characterized by a body decorated with applied glass nets. No. 94 is a fragment of an upper edge and No. 95 a complete foot whose bottom is repressed. The foot has a diameter of 3.6 cm and the bottom is re-entrant. In the same US was found a block of melted glass on a stone that could result from a fire.

This type of glass dating from the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century was made in Italy and France in Saintes, as evidenced by the fragments found on the site of the workshop in rue Renaud-Rousseau[1]. A copy was found during the excavations of the villa of Plassac[2].



[1] HOCHILI-GYSEL A., importations et productions du Ier siècle av. J.-C. au Ier siècle ap. J.-C., Echanges et commerce du verre dans le monde antique, Montagnac, 20003, p. 177-193. [2] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac, Revue Archéologique de Bordeaux, tome LXXXI, 1990, p. 39-81.


- Type conical cups Isings 106 / AR 66/ T 53

Two bluish-colored shards show a clean, unheated lip. These are conical cups type Isings 106/AR 66/T53. This type of legless glass is characterized by a lip cut with a chisel, left raw and dates from the 3rd / 4th centuries. It is used until the 5th century. It is a type of glass that was very common in the 4th century and was also used as a light[1]. This kind of glass was found in Aquitaine at Jau-Dignac (Gironde)[2], in Bordeaux, Place Camille Julian [3] and during excavations of the judicial city[4], in Deux-Sèvres in Rom[ 5].

[1] SIMON-HIERNARD D., Verre d’époque romaine, collection des Musées de Poitiers, Poitiers, 2000 [2] HEBRARD-SALIVAS, étude du verre du site de Jau-Dignac, Jau-Dignac et Loirac (Gironde) « La chapelle Saint-Siméon », CARTRON I., CASTEX D., Rapport Final d’Opération (2001/2203-2005), SRA, Bordeaux, 2005. [3] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac,… 1990. [4]SIMON L., Etude de la verrerie de la cité judiciaire de Bordeaux. [5] DUBREUIL F., La verrerie d’époque romaine à Rom (Deux-Sèvres), Aquitania, XIII, 1995, p. 131-153.


- Type cups Isings 109/Feyeux 40

Fragments no. 42 in blue/green color, 77 and 90, both whitish in color, and colorless no. 83 are upper edge fragments.

Fragment n° 90 is an upper edge with negatives of glass nets in its upper part.

Shard no. 63 in green color is a fragment of a foot hemmed by repression of the parison. These glass fragments belong to the Isings 109/Feyeux 40 type, which are drinking glasses made with a single gob.


It is a type of glass that spread throughout Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries with more or less slender shapes. Some are decorated with added glass threads and are rather dated to the 5th/6th centuries. These drinking glasses are frequently found at habitat sites. This type of glass was found in Jau-Dignac[1], in Bordeaux Place Camille Julian [2] and during the excavations of the judicial city[3], in Rom (Deux-Sèvres)[4]. [1] HEBRARD-SALIVAS, étude du verre du site de Jau-Dignac, Jau-Dignac et Loirac (Gironde) « La chapelle Saint-Siméon », CARTRON I., CASTEX D.,… SRA, Bordeaux, 2005. [2] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac… 1990 [3] SIMON Laure (publication sous presse). [4] DUBREUIL F., La verrerie d’époque romaine à Rom …, Aquitania, XIII, 1995.


B. Bowls and cups

- Isings Type bowls 12/ AR 34

Two fragments of upper edges n°1 colorless and n°54 whitish correspond to the Isings 12/ AR 34 type. The lip is slightly re-entrant, cleanly cut and barely polished. The body is hemispherical. A decoration of engraved horizontal lines decorates the upper part and the middle part of the body. This type of glass dates from the first half of the 1st century.


- Isings type legless bowls 96/ AR 60/ T 49

Two fragments of upper edges of greenish color n° 41 and n° 30, correspond to this type of glass. The lip is cut clean, barely polished. These are mass-produced bowls from the 3rd century and spread throughout Europe. This type of object dates from the 4th century in Aquitaine and was found in Jau-Dignac[1], in the villa of Plassac[2], in Lormont [3].

[1] HEBRARD-SALIVAS, C., étude du verre du site de Jau-Dignac, Jau-Dignac et Loirac (Gironde) « La chapelle Saint-Siméon », CARTRON I., CASTEX D.,… SRA, Bordeaux, 2005. [2] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac,… 1990. [3] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Verres gallo-romains découverts à Lormont, Aquitania, tome VIII, 1990, p.122-128.


- Isings type bowls 85b/AR 98.1

Fragment no. 28 has a foot made up of two solid glass rings. The largest is obtained by folding the parison while the smallest is an added glass net. The fragments of upper edges n° 29, 39 and 80 as well as the fragments of feet n° 51 and 52 also belong to a cylindrical bowl of the type Isings 85b. All these fragments are colorless.

This type of object was very common in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Numerous copies have been found in Aquitaine, in Lormont [1], in the judicial city of Bordeaux [2], in Plassac[3], in Mas-D'agenais[4], and in Poitou-Charente as in Poitiers[ 5] or in Barzan[6]. Many glasses of this type were discovered in 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 gallo-romains découverts à Lormont…. [2] SIMON Laure (publication sous presse) [3] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac… [4] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Verres romains trouvés en Gironde, Aquitania, 7, 1990, p. 121-134. [5] SIMON-HIERNARD D., Verre d’époque romaine…, Poitiers, 2000. [6] DUBREUIL F., Le mobilier en verre, Thermae Gallicae, les termes de Barzan (Charente-Maritime) et les termes 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.



- Cups of undetermined type with Christian decoration


A slightly flattened background fragment of green/yellowish color was discovered in US 1002. It has a wheel-engraved decoration on its exterior face.

This motif represents a cross with six branches (2 perpendicular lines and 1 median). A branch would seem to represent the chrism (P upside down) or monogrammatic cross. Between the branches of this cross, two symbols are visible: an asterisk and an engraved letter (A). The decoration continues next to the chrism but it is poorly preserved. There is also a small 8-pointed cross. This object was blown on the fly.


Another sherd (no. 31) which belongs to the same object was found in US 2005. It is green/yellowish in color and has an engraved 8-pointed cross. The glass is 2.5mm thick. This cut cannot be identified typologically because the fragments are too small. By comparison, it is possible to date this cup to the 4th/5th century. Three hemispherical cups were found, one in Narbonne which dates from the beginning of the 5th century, another found on the site of Mariana in Corsica which dates from the end of the 4th century[1] and the third from the cemetery of Homblières (Somme) which dates from the end of the 4th century[2].

[1] FOY D., NEMMA M ;-D., Tout feu tout sable, mille ans de verre antique dans le Midi de la France, Aix-en-Provence, 2001. [2] ARVEILLER-DULONG V., NEMMA M.-D., Les verres antiques du Musée du Louvre (tome II), Vaisselle et contenants du 1er siècle au début du VIIe siècle après J.-C., Paris, 2005.



C- Stemmed glasses

- Conical stemmed glass AR 100

Glass fragment no. 61 belongs to a rare type of drinking glass. It is made with two parisons and the body is decorated with glass nets placed hot and then pinched in places, thus forming a mesh. It is currently whitish in color, it was originally supposed to be colorless. Similar glasses were found in Poitiers in tomb no. 228 of the Dunes necropolis[1], as well as in Rom[2]. Others are in Reims and Rouen[3]. This kind of glass was made in Cologne in the Rhineland between the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

[1] SIMON-HIERNARD D., Verre d’époque romaine, …, Poitiers, 2000. [2] DUBREUIL F., La verrerie d’époque romaine à Rom, … Aquitania, 1995. [3] SENNEQUIER G., Verrerie d’époque romaine, Rouen, 1985, p. 58-60, n° 33.


- Cup AR 42

Fragment no. 71 is a goblet with a tall, conical-shaped foot of colorless color. It was blown on the fly and dates from the 1st/3rd century.




- Isings drinking glass 108

Fragments n° 42 and 69 may belong to Isings 108 drinking glasses. They are characterized by a small annular foot shaped in the mass. They are dated from the 3rd century in Charente-Poitou[1].

[1] SIMON-HIERNARD D., Verre d’époque romaine, …, Poitiers, 2000.

- Faceted glass AR 45/ Isings 21/ T 35

Shard no. 79 is a glass with engraved facets. This engraving is made cold using a grinding wheel. This type of glass has been found in Poitou, Charente, Vendée[1], in central France[2], in Marseille and in the necropolis of Valladas in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux[3]. This type of glass is dated to the 1st or 2nd century. Its provenance remains uncertain. Productions of this type are attested in southern Italy, Syria and Egypt[4].

[1] SIMON-HIERNARD D., Verre d’époque romaine, …, Poitiers, 2000. [2] MOIRIN A., Contact et échanges au Ier siècle : l’exemple de la Gaule du centre, Echanges et commerce du verre dans le monde antique, Montagnac, 2003. [3]FOY D., NENNA M.-D., Tout feu tout sable, Mille ans de verre antique dans le midi de la France, Aix-en-Provence, 2001. [4]NENNA M.-D., Verres gravés d’Egypte du Ier au Ve siècle ap.J.-C., Echanges et commerce du verre dans le monde antique, Montagnac, 2003.


II- Closed forms

A- Balsamaire

Shard no. 27 in blue/green color is the neck of a balsamaire dating from the 1st/2nd century in Haute-Vienne[1].

It is blown on the fly and has many strings. It does not belong to a well-determined type.



[1] SIMON-HIERNARD D., Verre d’époque romaine, …, Poitiers, 2000.


B- Bottles

-Bottles Isings 50/AR 156/ T 114 à 119

Ribbed handle no. 55 belongs to a bottle with a square belly of the Isings 50/AR 156/T 114 to 119 type. It is a very common object from the 1st to the 2nd century and still present in the 3rd century. Similar objects were found during recent excavations at Biganos on the site of Bois Lamothe (Gironde)[1], in Bordeaux rue du Palais Gallien[2], in Oloron on the site of Guynemer (Pyrénées Atlantiques)[3], in Lormont [4], in the villa of Plassac[5]. Some of these bottles were made in Saintes in Charente-Maritime where mold bottoms[6] and production waste[7] were found.

[1] HEBRARD-SALIVAS C. , étude du verre, Fouilles de la piste cyclable sous la direction de WOZNY Luc, SRA, 2005 [2] HEBARD-SALIVAS C., étude en cours. [3] HEBRARD-SALIVAS C., Etude en cours. [4] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Verres gallo-romains découverts à Lormont,… 1990. [5] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Les verres de la villa gallo-romaine de Plassac… [6] HOCHULI-GYSEL A., Saintes (17), 85 rue de la boule, Ateliers de verriers de l’Antiquité à la période prè-industrielle,(Actes des 4èmes rencontres de l’AFAV), Rouen, 1991, p.58. [7] HOCHILI-GYSEL A., importation et productions du Ier siècle av.J.-C. au 1er siècle ap.J.-C., Echanges et commerce du verre …, Montagnac, 20003, p. 177-193.


- Bottle Isings 90

The handle with a triple rib n° 57 comes from a rectangular bottle of the Isings 90 type. These are bottles with two handles facing each other, and the bottom is often decorated with an epigraphic or geometric mark .

This kind of bottle is used from the 2nd to the 3rd century. Some have been found in the region of Poitiers (necropolis of the Dunes)[1]. Their manufacture is attested in Aquileia in Italy and in Cologne in Germany.


[1] SIMON-HIERNARD D., Verre d’époque romaine….., Poitiers, 2000.


Conclusion

The glassware discovered in Loupiac during the 4 excavation campaigns testifies to an occupation of the site between the 1st and 6th centuries and later around the 17th and 19th/20th centuries. Glassware from the 1st to the 6th century essentially belongs to tableware. That from the 1st to the 3rd century shows a certain richness as shown by the discovery of quite rare types of glass: AR52/Isings 33, AR 100, AR 42 and AR 45/Isings 21/T35. These types of objects are imports from Italy, the Middle East or the Rhineland. That of the IV/VIe is more abundant and belongs to more common types such as the Isings 106/AR 66/T53, Isings 109/Feyeux 40, Isings 96/AR60/T49, Isings types. A cup engraved with a monogrammatic cross from the 4th century shows the spread of Christianity in the region. No storage glassware was discovered apart from two bottles, one of the Isings 50/AR 156/T114 type which is a very common model and one of the Isings 90 type. This rarity is found for the toilet objects, only one balsamaire has been unearthed.





Référence de cet article :

Hébrard-Salivas C., La verrerie de la villa gallo-romaine de Loupiac, In, Le mobilier archéologique dans le Bazadais, Cahier du Bazadais, 2015, n°191, p.7-26.


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