- Chapter Twenty-Nine -
in transactions. Many questions remain unanswered about the use and significance
of these coinages. Were the flan-shaped moulds, which are frequently found on these
settlements, used for the production of coins? What is the exact role of the cast
bronze potin coinages which have distributions restricted precisely to central-east
Gaul from an early date, possibly from the end of the second century Be? Did
Massalia set these economic developments in train before the Roman annexation
of Provence, or did that city manage subsequently to impose its standards, albeit
temporarily, before the Roman merchants took over control of all the trade? It is in
the fan-shaped area, centred on Lyons and defined above, that the answers to such
questions will be found.
The tribal territory (civitas) of the Aedui lies in the heart of this zone. If one is to
believe Caesar's evidence in De Bello Gallico, the Aedui made the most of the new
economic situation, developing craft industries, long-distance trade links, and political
alliances with Rome. The Sequani and Bituriges were not slow to follow this trend.
This is borne out by the development of oppida in their territories, for such sites mark
the last stage in the evolutionary development of still-independent Gaul.
For a long time, scholars considered that the development of craft industries and
commerce, which we have just mentioned, were phenomena associated with the
enclosed settlements termed 'oppida'. In this part of Gaul, at least, and as far east as
the Rhine valley, oppida appear later than the artisan villages, with their ranges
of diversified activities. At Levroux (Figure 29.8), for example, there is a physical
shift from the lowland artisanal village upslope to the oppidum during the last century
Be. The latter comes into existence as a result of a conscious move from the pre-
existing settlement to a neighbouring hill, this latter surrounded by a rampart
protecting about 20 hectares. The fortification of oppida is not limited to the weak
points on their defensive circuits, those that natural topography does not protect. It is
rather a matter of marking out the boundaries of a tract of territory with special
characteristics than of simply ensuring defence. These sites maintained the tradition
of fortification on high ground, perhaps because of its religious or symbolic value:
permanent settlements were, however, installed within their enclosures, along with
craft industries and commercial activities which seem paradoxical in such inaccessible
places.
The case of Mont Beuvray (Saone-et-Loire/Nicvre), Caesar's Bibracte, is typical.
A settlement, the inner enclosure around it covering I 3 5 hectares, is perched on a
summit in the Morvan uplands, at an altitude of 800 m I5 km from the neighbour-
ing valleys. This enclosure is defined by a rampart forming an uninterrupted circuit
and constructed in murus gallicus style - a prestige fortification with an internal
timber framework into which thousands of long iron spikes have been augered. Its
gates are gigantic, in the extreme case defined by a 20-m wide passage lying between
two inturned sectors of fortification, over 40 m long (Figure 29.9). This effort to
demarcate the settlement and to render the entrance to it so remarkable suggests
that the settlement had a special status. A truly urban space has been isolated from
the countryside, probably with its own laws and control over the movement of
people and of merchandise. Within the settlement, crafts thrived, powerful inhabi-
tants built themselves vast houses, and monumental collective constructions have
been identified in the pre-Roman levels (Beck et al. I987; Guillaumet I987).