La villa de Quintus Iulius Pri(…) à Aspiran (Hérault). Un centre domanial de Gaule Narbonnaise (ier-ve s. apr. J.-C.)

Abstract

This article propounds a synthetic assessment of the results of the extensive excavations programmed at the villa of Saint-Bézard (Aspiran, Hérault), occupied from the early beginning of the Ist c. down to the Vth c. This vast domain is associated with a large workshop of potters which functioned for three centuries and provided a very wide selection of amphorae, light-pasted ceramics, terra sigillata, dolia and building material. The villa centres round a vast vine-growing complex and presents a complex evolution marked by the building of two balnearia, a large 280 square-metre natatio, a granary-tower sheltering a bakery cum kitchen and thermae. Several outstanding points allow one to raise the hypothesis of the existence of a small habitat which may have grown up between the villa and the workshop. Lastly, the collected material elements enable one to apprehend the site’s economy over the long term and point to a change in the productions together with a diversification of the sources of income by the end of the IIIrd c.

Keywords

• Narbonensis
• villa
• estate economy
• vine-growing
• potters’ workshop