Celtic Camp of the Frieze

Perched over a sandstone headland, the Celtic Camp of the Frieze dominates the town of the Saint-Dié-of-Vosges and its surroundings, attesting existence since the Antiquity of a small island of civilization in the middle of the green framework of the valley of the Meurthe. One indicates sometimes this Gallo-Roman Castellum like the “city of the Leuques”.

The original steles and the objects exhumed at the time of the archaeological excavations are exposed to the Musée Pierre-Christmas of the Saint-Dié-of-Vosges, where one also finds a model of the whole of the site.

Situation

The camp is located at the North-West of the Saint-Dié-of-Vosges, to approximately 8 km of the center. If several courses make it possible to reach it, the motorist often chooses the forest road which leads initially to the collar of Crenée. From there, a sometimes abrupt path leads the walker until the top in a score of minutes.

Escarpé and wooded, the plate extends on 350 meters length and 120 meters broad, at an altitude of 583 Mr. In front of a panorama of such a width, a table of orientation out of cast iron set up in 1992 facilitates the setting in prospect for the valley of the Meurthe, as well as the identification of the villages and surrounding tops.

The archaeological building site

These vestiges remained been unaware of a long time, even if some prospections had been led to the 19th century by Edouard Ferry (relative of Jules Ferry) and Gaston Save. It is especially starting from the middle of the Sixties that systematic investigations were led, on the initiative of the Société Philomatique Vosgienne, initially under the direction of Albert Ronsin, conservative of the Museum and the Library, then of Georges Tronquart, professor with the Lycée Jules Ferry.

History of the camp

The arrowheads, scrapers, blades and gravers now deposited with the Musée constitute as many signs of an human life on this rocky outcrop as of the end of the Neolithic . On the other hand, one finds no trace of the Bronze Age, and it is necessary to await the paddle of thousand-year-old Ier to have new elements. Thus at the 2nd century, at the end of the reign of Marc-Aurèle, of the tools would have been dissimulated there. The arrival of the Alamans in the middle of the 4th century put an end to the life of the camp the discovery of a plowshare and many grooves of plow recall that an agricultural economics had there also its place. The excavations carried out up to now did not make it possible to establish a human presence on the site between the 5th century and the 18th century (a cross there was set up), then the events of 1914 - 1918.

A fortified town

As of, the camp was surrounded by a bent rampart an exceptional thickness (up to 6,80 m or 7,50 m).

This rampart is built according to the method of the murus gallicus whose Jules César makes description in the Guerre of Gaules. Two dry stone facings tally a made sand blocking of blocks of stone. Then facing and blocking are attached by beds of beams in oak posed in quarillage and assembled by long forged nails of approximately twenty centimetres.

A portion of murus gallicus was reconstituted on the site, it makes it possible to better include/understand the technique of construction.

A new peripheral rampart, inspired of the Gallo-Roman technique, was high in 275 after J. - C. a series of funerary steles were discovered there.

Some were replaced by mouldings, while the originals, such as the stele known as of the “that” or “Ironmaster with two characters” were put in sure place at the Musée.

The Oppidum comprised four doors. The base of the northern Postern (3) and several beds drowned under the falls were found at the time of the excavations of 1976. On photography opposite, in the foreground, one once sees a large block slotted which could receive a beam intended to reinforce the leaves of the door, this one closed (Bras of force).

The way, which preserved part of its pavement, connected the camp to a source, the valley (mine) and the way of the Sarmates ( strata Sarmatarum ).

Here and there, of the granite balls (rollers of Meurthe) recall the defensive function of the camp

Daily life

The population of the camp of then is estimated at 100 people in times of peace, but this figure probably rose to several hundreds in the event of threat. The inhabitants lived in houses out of wooden, thatch glazes and closing with key.

The objects found (crockery out of ceramics, cheese drainers, jewels Celtic, plays, clarines, currencies) and the representation of the characters on the steles make it possible to reconstitute a daily life rustic, but not deprived of a certain refinement.

An intense metallurgical activity is attested by various tools: knives, hammers, gouges, grips, axes, gravers, and even two anvils among heaviest of the ancient world (11 and 23,5 kg).

Whereas barter was probably of everyday usage at that time, one however found on the site a very significant number of currencies (1 269, including 346 Gallic against 923 Romans). To note the significant share of the pewters Leuques.

Religious syncretism

Among other examples, dedicated sanctuaries with various divinities testify to the syncretism of this population, isolated enough and moved away from romanisés centers.

In the shape of square (7), one of these pertaining to worship basins is devoted to Taranis/Jupiter, the god of the sky. In fact it constituted also a water reserve, making it possible moreover to wash the ore.

Two riders with the Anguipède out of pink sandstone (3rd century), of which a remarkable head by the smoothness of its features, were found in the vicinity, the sides of other vestiges, Gallic currencies and lead standards of Roman epoch.

The other basin (8), that dedicated to the Goddesses-mères/Dianes, is rectangular (6,60 m out of 5,10 m). It is dug in the rock up to 65 cm of depth and is surrounded by two steps. A fragment of votive stele carrying the inscription “Dianis” was discovered close to the basin: a rather rare lucky find, because the plural of the Diane goddess seldom appears.

To the intersection of the old Gallic world and Roman civilization, the Castellum of the Frieze did not deliver all its secrecies yet. Remote regions remain, and the archeologists of the future will have to take the changing of impassioned yesterday.

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