Talk:Musée Granet

68.110.200.73 (talk) 21:32, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Captions
Changed "Etruscan" to Celtic. The Etruscans did get around Italy, south to Campagna, north to the Po Valley perhaps. Etruscan pottery ahs been found in S. France, but this is probably evidence of trade. The heads are in aa purely Celtic style, the Celts were who lived in the area in pre-Roman times, and these very heads form a material part of a discussion on the so-called "veneration of the human head" in ancient Celtic religion. Trying to find out about Etruscan connections with Aix, I found a seminary web page that refers to an Etruscan history that seems to be lacking, save for an important conference on Etruscan potter held there in 1975.

68.110.200.73 (talk) 07:13, 20 April 2013 (UTC)Lucretius6

Yes that was an error. I think Celto-Ligurian is the correct word. I also wikilinked to the article on Entremont (oppidum). Although the pre-Roman collection in the Musée Granet is in limbo (as Aix decides whether it can finance a new archaeological museum), I vaguely remember there being Etruscan artifacts in the collection. These particular heads at Entremont are pictured and described on pages 110-111 of "The European Iron Age" by John Collis. Here is what he writes:


 * From the seventh or sixth century BC we see in Southern France the development of a large number of defended hill-top towns and villages. Many are agricultural, and it appears that the population was entirely nucleated. Most produce evidence of trade with the Greek colonies such as Maresilles on the coast.


 * Entremont is a relatively late foundation. The earliest phase has not yet been located, but sculptures from it were used in building the second phase. This consisted of a drystone wall with projecting bastions, built in the third century BC. The town expanded quickly, and a second wall, also third century, was built, now enclosing an areas of 3-5ha.


 * The interior was laid out on a fairly regular grid parallel to the walls. The houses were all built of drystone walling. Some, especially in the lower town, show evidence of agricultural involvement—finds of sickles, etc, and many have presses for olive oil. The buildings in the upper part have large storage facilities, though it is not yet clear whether this is of social significance. Many of the houses have storage vases set in the floor for the storage of valuables, and four have produced hoards of silver coins.


 * A consistent feature of the sites around the Rhone mouth is the presence of a shrine, in the case of Entremont, built between the bastions of the inner defences. The cult shows a concern with the human head, and at Entremont skulls were nailed on the wall. One had a javelin head in it, so presumably it was that of an enemy killed in battle. There are also sculptures depicting piles of human heads (image).


 * The Salvii who occupied Entremont were anti-Roman, and the site was destroyed at the time of the conquest of Provence 125-120 BC. From the excavations there are ballista bolts and bullets from catapults. Though there was some new occupation, the site was rapidly abandoned in favour of the new colony at Aix-en-Provence.

So "severed heads" is the correct term to use and the Celto-Ligurian tribe were the "Salvii". Mathsci (talk) 08:32, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Works for me, although one could have a lengthy discussion about the legitimacy of the term "Celto-Ligurian," since it is difficult to pin the ancient Ligurians down linguistically or via material culture, although the Romans lumped a lot of people into the "ligurian" category. Not unlike the map I show my students that has everything northeast of Italy labeled "Illyrian Tribes" until you arrive in a region with traditional Greek settlements. 68.110.200.73 (talk) 21:32, 21 April 2013 (UTC)Lucretius6
 * Sources say it was the capital of Celto-Ligurian Confederation. There's an extensive description here in a discussion of the archaeology of the site. Glanum was also Celto-Ligurian originally. In that article they discuss the Salyes, the preferred Greek version of the Salvii. (We had a whole group of American archaeology students from NJ here recently with their professor. They looked at many sites, including Entremont and Glanum.) Mathsci (talk) 22:43, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

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