TRESQUES
Locality of Courac, Gard, France.
The Gallo-Roman presence at Courac took the shape of
a scattered settlement; it lasted from the 1st to the 4th c.
The ancient remains occupy terraces on the S slope and
the summit of the S spur of a chain of hills which run
N-S, 1 km N of the village of Tresques. One can distinguish three main deposits:
Courac I, at the summit, produced a group of rich
cremation tombs of the 1st c. These were next to a sumptuous early imperial villa, whose nymphaeum was used as a dump in the 4th c.
Courac II, ca. 800 m S of Courac I, at the foot of the
slope, revealed foundations of a Gallo-Roman temple,
several architectural fragments of which have been gathered at the nearby farm of Saint-Loup. The temple was still in use at the end of the 4th c.
Courac III, 200 m W of Courac I, comprised an inhumation necropolis, a dump, and a complex of dwellings arranged around a court. The whole dates to the 2d and 3d c.
The archaeological finds are kept in the museum and
the excavation storage depot at Bagnols-sur-Cèze, in the
Avignon museum, and in various private collections at Tresques.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
G. Sudres,
Rapports de fouilles (1962-69)
PI; “Informations archéologiques,”
Gallia 22 (1964) 505-6; 24 (1966) 481; 27 (1969) 411
I.
J. CHARMASSON
