BEIRE-LE-CHATEL
Côte d'Or, France.
The
cult site in the area known locally as La Charme Tupin,
W of Beire-le-Châtel, is still something of an enigma
in spite of recent excavations. Two dedications, one to
the mother goddesses (Dia Matribus, Vintedo V. S. L. M.;
CIL XIII, 11577), the other to the goddess Januaria (Deae
Januariae Sacrovir, V.S.L.M.,
CIL XIII, 5619), suggest
that several divinities were worshiped there, and the variety of ex-votos found on the site confirms this impression: heads of goddesses; male and female ex-voto heads
in relief or modeled in the round; small-scale figures in
a wide variety of attitudes and with a range of attributes;
many renderings of three-horned bulls; groups of birds
(doves or turtle-doves) the ritual number for which
seems to be four, if it is true that those reliefs with only
two or three birds are broken at the sides. Such diverse
offerings surely indicate the shrines of a number of divinities.
The walls were razed, and in many cases all that is
left is some traces of rubble or broken-down foundations.
The impression remains, however, that these walls were
not those of buildings but of enclosures, or partitions
between different sacred zones. The only fresh evidence
provided by the dig was the discovery of a road network
around the crossroads where the sanctuary developed, unconnected with any nearby settlement. This seems to have
been a sacred area where a group of divinities were
worshiped at altars or in small chapels rather than in
temples.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. Espérandieu,
Receuil général des
bas-reliefs . . . (1907-66) IV, 3620-36; G. Drioux,
Cultes
indigènes des Lingons (1934) 82-84; P. Lebel, “Quelques
sculptures votives du temple de Beire-le-Chatel,”
Revue
Arch. de l'Est 4 (1953) 319-28; Grenier,
Manuel IV, 2
(1960) 643-48; R. Martin,
Gallia 18 (1960) 338-39.
R. MARTIN
