The incipit of an interesting item from CNRS … mirrored in various places:

Gevrey-Chambertin, 12 km from Dijon, is famous throughout the world for its Burgundy wines. It is now possible to conclude that winegrowing in this region goes back to the Gallo-Roman era, as testified by the findings of excavations by the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP), at the spot known as “Au dessus de Bergis”. Carried out in collaboration with scientists from the ARTeHIS Laboratory (CNRS/Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication/Université de Bourgogne), this dig revealed 316 rectangular pits aligned in 26 rows, interpreted as being the remains of a vineyard from the first century AD.

Commissioned by the French Government (DRAC Bourgogne), excavations covering nearly 12,000 m² were completed during the summer of 2008 before building work started to enlarge a housing estate planned by Gevrey-Chambertin town council. The dig, divided into two sectors, revealed a series of hollow remains (pits, pot-holes and ditches) from different periods. For the Gallo-Roman era, an area of more than 6000 m² was covered by more than 300, regularly spaced and aligned pits, surrounded by a continuous peripheral ditch. These rectangular pits are 90 to 130 cm long by a little less than 60 cm wide, and sections of the soil filling them indicate the void left by the trunk and roots of a small shrub. Many of the pits are split into two compartments by a small ridge of rubble and soil.

How can these remains be interpreted? The alignment and rectangular shape of the pits are similar to those found at the sites of other Gallo-Roman vineyards discovered in both southern France, the region around Paris and in the UK. The small dimensions of the pits mean that the hypothesis of an orchard can be excluded. The “ghosts” of small shrubs observed in the filing earth are of the size of a vine stock. The two compartments separated by a ridge correspond to the recommendations of Pliny the Elder and Columella, two 1st century Latin authors, which were to plant two vine stocks in each pit and arrange them “so that the roots of the two layers in the same pit do not twist around each other, which will be easy to do by placing rocks no heavier than five pounts in the bottom of the pits, transversally and across the middle.” These pits are the first example how these viticultural and agronomic precepts were applied in Gaul. Some pits are edged by smaller, more shallow ditches. The secondary ditches probably served for provining, an ancient technique for the vegetative propagation of vines, when the above-ground part of the plant (stem, branches, etc.) was buried so that it developed its own roots before being separated from the parent plant and living as a new, independent individual.

• A Gallo-Roman vine in Gevrey-Chambertin(CNRS)

• Gallo-Roman vine in Gevrey-Chambertin (AlphaGalileo)

• Burgundy Wine Has Long History In France: Remains Of Gallo-Roman Vineyard Discovered In Gevrey-Chambertin (Science Daily)

Some brief items which passed ‘neath my caerulean brow this past week or so:

They’re starting to ponder proposals for a ‘facelift’ for Housesteads Roman Fort:

• Major facelift at Roman fort (Courant)

Construction workers in Highworth dug up a Roman ‘pot’ (actually, a 2nd century or so cremation vessel):

• Builders dig up ancient Roman pot (Advertiser)

• Builders dig up ancient Roman pot (This is Wiltshire)

… with more details of its impending auction:

• Highworth Roman pot up for auction (Advertiser)

They think they’re going to find more of Gloucester’s Roman wall:

• Roman discovery around the corner (This is Gloucestershire)

Vague concerns being expressed for “ancient sites” in Bath:

• Will ancient history be lost for ever? (This is Bath)

A metal detectorist has found a Roman coin hoard in Devon:

• Rare Roman coins a ‘find of a lifetime’ (Herald Express)

Wanna buy a Roman Circus?:

• Colchester: Roman circus to be sold alongside sergeant’s mess (Essex County Standard)

Not sure whether this Roman bath find in Canterbury is new or not:

• Roman Baths under Waterstone’s in Canterbury city centre (Adsense)

Quite a few news outlets are picking up the story about the threat to underwater sites off Greece from scuba divers:

• Sunken Greek treasures at risk from scuba looters (Reuters)

• Priceless treasures now fair game for divers (Shanghai Daily)

• Sunken Greek treasures at risk from scuba looters (MSNBC)

From Hurriyet:

The statues of Roman emperors Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius are being kept in a depot at the Burdur Archaeology Museum due to a lack of exhibition space.

The statues stirred up international excitement when they were unearthed.

Hadrian’s giant statue, found in 2007 during the now 17-year-old excavation at Sagalassos, was on exhibition from July 24 to Oct. 26, 2008, at the British Museum in London. The statue was returned to Burdur Archaeology Museum on Nov. 7, 2008, where it was put in storage due to the lack of exhibition space.

The statue of Aurelius was found during an excavation in 2008. Archaeology, a well-known American magazine, put the find on its list of “Top 10 archaeological events of 2008.”

Hacı Ali Ekinci, manager at the Burdur Archaeology Museum, said they were looking for exhibition space for the artifacts and were waiting for the planned new site being built near the museum to get underway. Ekinci said when the site is completed the statues of the emperors will be on exhibit alongside other stored artifacts.

• Emperors of old left in storage

See also:

• Hadrian at Sagalassos (Archaeology Magazine)

• Giant statue of Hadrian unearthed (BBC, August 9, 2007)

• Huge Marcus Aurelius statue uncovered in ancient Turkish city of Sagalassos (Telegraph, August 27, 2008)

A brief report which seems to be making the rounds of the Indian press tells of four digs commencing in Macedonia/FYROM … of interest to us is Heraklea Lynkestis:

About 100 people already started excavating unearthed parts of the Heraklea Lynkestis site, which is located at about two kilometres from the town of Bitola in south-western Macedonia.

Founded in the fourth century BC by the ancient Greek ruler Philip II of Macedon – the father of Alexander the Great, and conquered by the Romans two centuries later, Heraklea Lynkestis stood on the Via Egnatia and became one of the key stations on this trading route.

Some of the remains that archaeologists have discovered at the site so far are impressive mosaics, Roman baths, town walls, a portico, ancient basilicas, an Episcopal church, a Jewish temple and a Roman amphitheatre which is often used for summer concerts and theatre shows.

• Archaeology excavations begin at four ancient sites in Macedonia (ANI via Yahoo)

• Archaeology excavations begin at four ancient sites in Macedonia (New Kerala)

• Archaeology Excavations Begin at Four Ancient Sites in Macedonia (Balkan Travellers)

Azzaman is reporting the discovery of of a bridge somewhere north of Mosul purportedly built by Alexander the Great. In the rather vague article, archaeologist Omer Sharif is quoted inter alia:

“The bridge dates to 330 B.C. and to the reign of Alexander the Great … I have asked the Antiquities Department in Baghdad to send a team of specialists to evaluate the discovery … hopefully, a lot of the ancient construction survives so that we can have in place a bridge that will bear the name of this great monarch.”

• Bridge built by Alexander the Great found north of Mosul

• Bridge Built by Alexander the Great Found North of Mosul(Iraq Update)