UGERNUM
(Beaucaire) Gard, France.
Important way station on the Via Domitiana at the head of the Rhône delta, on the right bank of the river, facing Tarusco (Tarascon), at a point which according to ancient itineraries was one of the principal crossings (Trajectus Rhodani).
The pre-Roman town was on the rocky butte dominating the river on which the mediaeval castle is built. There
is evidence of human occupation there from the 6th c.
to the Roman era. On the flat space on which the castle
is built are the remains of a large and strong Roman
edifice, sometimes identified as a castellum. The main
Roman settlement was at the foot of the native oppidum,
on the site of the mediaeval and modern town, and is attested by numerous discoveries: remains of structures, mosaic pavements, architectural elements, statues, inscriptions, and other objects. To the NW of the city,
along the Via Domitiana, necropoleis have recently been
discovered and partially explored; they have yielded Roman cremation burials of unusually early date. Both early and recent discoveries are found for the most part in the archaeological museums of Beaucaire and Nîmes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carte archéologique de la Gaule romaine, fasc. VIII, Gard (1941) 1-5, nos. 3-5;
RE 8 A2
(1958) col. 1908; “Informations,”
Gallia 20 (1962)
628
I; 22 (1964) 498
I; 24 (1966) 474; 27 (1969) 403.
G. BARRUOL
