LIVERDUN
Meurthe-et-Moselle, France.
This
market town, situated on a rocky spur dominating the
Moselle ca. 15 km downstream from Toul (Tullum Leucorum), has produced a few ancient remains. But its
immediate vicinity has contributed considerable evidence
for a fairly dense occupation from prehistoric to Merovingian times. In 1967 excavations during the building of
a private house at the locality called Rupt-Chaudron
brought to light the foundations of a fairly large Gallo-Roman villa. A cellar, which perhaps served as a sanctuary, was explored first. It was finished with two air
vents and one niche filled with abundant constructional
debris and artifacts: painted plaster, small marble slabs,
pieces of a table and a column, iron tools for handicrafts,
a small bronze vase, fibulae, bone pins, 3d c. coins, and
an interesting medallion with an effigy of Antinoüs (on
the reverse, a bull). Near this cellar a small building
contained a hypocaust with 42 small brick piers. To the
S was a hemicycle, no doubt for a heated pool. Also to
the S was a small rectangular structure (1.2 x 1.8 m),
the walls of which were lined with a row of bricks covered with waterproof cement. This was no doubt a cold
bathing pool. The whole of this establishment seems to
have been destroyed during the invasions of the mid 3d c.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
R. Billoret in
Gallia 28 (1970).
R. BILLORET
