Les maisons romaines précoces de l’oppidum de La Sioutat à Roquelaure (Gers) : bilan des recherches récentes

Abstract

Research conducted on the oppidum of La Sioutat at Roquelaure (Gers) since 2006 now sheds new light on the Late Protohistory of that part of south-west France. In use from the 6th century BC, the site saw a period of development in the Late Iron Age as settlements developed on terraces on the southern slope. The last quarter of the 1st c. BC was characterised by the construction of two houses, as yet partly excavated. The first is a rectangular building organised around a courtyard and a room at the rear with two side lobbies or utility rooms. Later, a much larger house was built, presenting all the characteristics of an Italic domus. It was a prestige house whose location, but also its outside dimensions or rich wall decoration are an indication of the high social status of its owner. Beyond that, the Roquelaure oppidum raises the question of how in practice indigenous settlements turned into towns in the second half of the 1st c. BC.