MARTELANGE
Belgium.
A small vicus
located on the Arlon-Tongres road where it crosses the
Sûre, a tributary of the Moselle. Foundations have
been discovered there, but they have never been excavated systematically. The vicus probably subsisted on
the mining and trading of slate. It probably also provided a market for the many villas that have been noted
in the locality. One of the most remarkable finds was
made in the vicinity of Hohdoor: a quadrangular building (14 x 19 m), flagged with marble, with painted
stucco plinths. About 100 terracotta statuettes (Jupiter,
Mars, Minerva, Venus, and Fortuna) were found there.
The edifice must have been a small sanctuary or a
lararium. In the vicinity “auf Baulig” a workshop was
found which produced votive terracotta statuettes and
loomweights. The statuettes were mainly of the mother
goddess as well as of civilian and military figures. Cremation tombs and two barrows with fairly rich grave
goods were found. A bronze statuette of Mercury is a
typical piece of Roman provincial art.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
V. Balter & C. Dubois, “Contribution
à la carte archéologique de la Belgique,”
Annales de
l'Institute archéol. du Luxembourg (1936) 65-73; G.
Faider-Feytmans, “Le Mercure de Martelange,”
Mélanges A. Bertrang (1964) 69-73.
S. J. DE LAET
