MEDIOLANUM
(Malain) Côte-d'Or, France.
Situated 20 km W of Dijon, in the civitas of the Lingones.
On the boundary of the present-day villages of Ancey
and Malain, near the River Ouche, were found some
carved blocks from the city. One of them bears a dedication to Litavis and Cicoluis. Recent excavations have
uncovered a fanum consisting of a square temple with
a gallery surrounding it and an adjacent courtyard, outside the settlement. We now have evidence of the latter
in a large block of houses, regular in plan, arranged on
two levels on a slope. The lower level comprises some
stone cellars, which are remarkably well preserved. On
the upper level is a large room opening on a portico,
which had a religious purpose, at least at a certain point
in its history. The buildings, of Roman type, are superimposed on thick strata corresponding to structures with
wooden posts, built in the Celtic style, which the Roman
ones succeeded in the Claudian period. Occupation of the
site in the valley may not have taken place until the
Roman Conquest; future excavations may show whether,
as it appears, a hill settlement on the nearby Butte de
Mesmont was moved to a more favorable site, then
occupied once more in the early Middle Ages.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Roussel, “Fanum des ‘Froidefonds’ sur
le site de Mediolanum (Malain),”
Rev. Arch. de l'Est
20 (1969) 179-91; id., “Fouilles de Malain, lieu-dit ‘La
Boussière,’ parcelle 22,” ibid. 22 (1972) 127-54.
C. ROLLEY
