PETINESCA
(Studen) Bern, Switzerland.
Vicus and temple precinct at the E foot of the Jensberg,
ca. 7 km SE of Biel. (The name appears in
It. Ant. 353.1
and in
Tab. Peut. as Petenisca.) The Roman settlement
succeeded a fortified oppidum on the plateau of the Jensberg, some ramparts of which are still visible. The site
is on the military highway from Aventicum to Salodurum, where the road over the Jura to Epamanduodurum (Mandeure) branches off. There was a military
post here in the 1st c. A.D.; the mansio was fortified in
the 3d c., and lasted into the 4th.
The vicus, the ruins of which cover the SE slopes of
the Jensberg, has not been excavated. Part of the fortification walls and a tower with a gateway which closed
off the main road are visible. Several buildings nearby
are the remains of the mansio with its annexes and a
bath. Above the posting station on the Gumpboden was
a temple precinct which probably originally belonged to
the oppidum. In the oblong enclosure (200 x 80 m) with
entrances on three sides stood seven temples of Gaulish
type (the largest 15 m on a side), two smaller chapels,
and a service building. The cults have not been identified. The sanctuary has been partly restored. On the slope between this precinct and the settlement, at Ried, one temple of a second sanctuary has been found. The Museum Schwab is in Biel.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. Lanz-Bloesch, “Die Ausgrabungen
am Jensberg 1898-1904,”
AnzSchweiz 8 (1906) 23-41,
113-27
PI; F. Staehelin,
Die Schweiz in römischer Zeit
(3d ed. 1948) 351-52, 571, 621
P; O. Tschumi,
Urgeschichte des Kantons Bern (1953) s.v. Studen, 358-60;
V. von Gonzenbach,
BonnJbb 163 (1963) 93-95; H.
Grütter, “Em zweiter Tempelbezirk in Studen, Petinesca,”
Ur-Schweiz 28 (1964) 25-28
PI.
V. VON GONZENBACH
