CALVISSON
Gard, France.
The oppidum of
La Liquière, near Calvisson, is on the first hills in from the
sea between Nîmes and Sommières. It is one of the five
cities in the prehistoric stratum surrounding the Vaunage
plain. Excavations have revealed a group of houses cut
in the rock and arranged around a central hearth. There
were three phases of occupation: from ca. 625 to 610
B.C. the populace engaged in vigorous trade with the
Etruscans, evidenced by finds of wine amphorae and delicate Etruscan ware. In the second phase, ca. 610-590 B.C.,
hearths of dry clay began to appear in the center of the
houses; this phase saw the first importations from Greece
brought by the Phokaians, for example, a goblet of gray
Ionian bucchero and two fragments of Corinthian aryballoi. At the same time Etruscan imports remained plentiful. In the third phase, 590-540 B.C., the way of life hardly changed, but many articles made in Marseille appeared.
The civilization of La Liquière is a survival developing
from the late Languedoc Urnfield type.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. Louis, “Le village anhistorique de
La Liquière de Calvisson,”
CahHistArch 12 (1937) 3-38;
M. Py, “Les influences méditerranéennes Vaunage du
8° au 1° s. av. J. C.,”
Bull. de l'École Antique de Nîmes 3 (1969) 35-86.
M. PY
