Avenches – Roman Museum – Permanent Exhibition
Avenches – Roman Museum – Permanent Exhibition Avenches – Roman Museum – Permanent Exhibition
Second Floor Body and Health Care 1-52. Fibulae (brooches) in bronze and silver. 53. Man’s coat; fragment of a bronze statuette. 54-55. Ivory box (copy) with bronze ring. 56. Ivory jewellery (?) box. 57-63. Boxwood bowl with faience beads and a bronze fibula. 64-83. Bronze and bone hairpins. 84. Gold earrings. 85. Bronze necklace with small glass plaques. 86-97. Amber, glass, crystal and jet beads. 98-99. Bronze phallic charms. 100. Silver pendant. 101. Bronze coin, turned into a pendant. 102. Gold necklace with blue glass beads. 102-107. Jet and bronze bracelets. 108-120. Silver, gold, iron, bronze and glass rings (1-2). 121. Bronze statuette of a female dancer. Body and Health Care (3) (Display case 3) Gallo-Romans liked to take care of their bodies. Since houses with running water were very rare, personal hygiene at home was kept to a minimum. More thorough personal hygiene was taken care of at public baths where one bathed, had unwanted hair removed, got a massage or took exercises. Aventicum had at least three public baths, the oldest dating from AD 29. Bad body odour was easily camouflaged by perfumes, which were preserved in small pottery, bronze or glass vessels (nos. 9-19). While the most expensive perfumes contained exotic products such as cinnamon or myrrh, rose and honey scents were much more common. Women liked to use make-up according to the fashion decreed by Rome: pale face, red lips, black eyebrows and painted eyelids. Various instruments were used to prepare, mix and apply the make-up (nos. 33 and 34, 42-54). Throughout the entire Roman Empire, including Gaul, women always wore their hair long. Young girls tied it at the neck or plaited it while married women had more elaborate hairdos. Some even coloured their hair. Men often had their hair, beard and moustache styled the same as the reigning emperor. Most men went to a barber for a shave. Make-up and hairdos were checked with the help of small mirrors consisting of a polished bronze or silver plaque attached to a handle (nos. 5-7) or placed in a wooden frame (no. 55). 1 2 3 47 Second Floor 2 3
Second Floor Body and Health Care Ancient medicine was developed in Greece, where Hippocrates (460 – 370 BC) was the most famous physician. Both in Rome itself and in the provinces doctors were often of Greek origin. A great number of practitioners were itinerant; some worked close to sanctuaries, military hospitals (valetudinarium) or in private practices (taberna medica). In some towns – amongst them Aventicum – the doctors’ guild owned a meeting place (schola) (inscription no. 23 on the ground floor; 1). The profession was also open to women. Medical training was obtained by working with a renowned doctor for several years. At the end of this apprenticeship the new doctor knew how to reset a fracture, amputate a foot or a hand and then cauterize the wound with a red-hot iron, ligature a blood vessel and operate on a cataract. To carry out these various operations he would have used scalpels with interchangeable blades (nos. 21-23), hooks to lift or separate flesh, sounds (tubes) to cauterize or probe wounds (nos. 42- 46), spatulas for scooping out or spreading a product, removing a cyst or even the whole eye (nos. 42-51). The best-known medications were eye creams. In fact, the eye doctors in Gaul even used seals (no. 30; 3), which they pressed into the solid substances. These stamps usually contained the name of the doctor, the composition of the cream, the type of medical condition it was to heal and its expected effect. These medicines were based on plant, metal and animal substances and had to be diluted before use; some of the components had therapeutic properties, which are still recognised today. 1-2. Bronze heads. 3. Stone male head (Pan). 4. Iron razor or knife with bone handle. 5-6. Fragments of bronze mirror. 7. Lead back of a mirror depicting the three Graces (2). 8. Bone comb (copy). 9-19. Glass, bronze and ceramic perfume flasks. 20. Bronze ointment mortar. 21-23. Bronze scalpel handles. 24. Bronze medical hook. 25. Bronze needle, used for treating cataract (?). 26. Silver probe with eyelet hole for inserting a thread. 27. Bronze forceps. 28-29. Bronze tweezers. 30-31. Oculist’s stamp (3) with the inscription COE[N?] used for sealing cakes of eye ointment to identify the type of medicine; small stone grinding plate. 32. Mosaic depicting the face of a woman (personification of summer). 1 2 3 48 Second Floor 3
- Page 1 and 2: Avenches - Roman Museum - Permanent
- Page 3 and 4: Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . .
- Page 5 and 6: Ground Floor - Introduction Switzer
- Page 7 and 8: Ground Floor - Introduction Chronol
- Page 9 and 10: Ground Floor The Gallo-Roman Popula
- Page 11 and 12: Ground Floor The Gallo-Roman Popula
- Page 13 and 14: Ground Floor The Gallo-Roman Popula
- Page 15 and 16: Ground Floor The Gallo-Roman Popula
- Page 17 and 18: Ground Floor The Inscriptions portr
- Page 19 and 20: Ground Floor The Inscriptions The S
- Page 21 and 22: Ground Floor Miscellaneous 31. Lime
- Page 23 and 24: First Floor The Indigenous Populati
- Page 25 and 26: First Floor Language and Writing No
- Page 27 and 28: First Floor Weights and Measures Th
- Page 29 and 30: First Floor Theatre, Games and Musi
- Page 31 and 32: First Floor Trade and Money The Mon
- Page 33 and 34: First Floor Trade and Money Money S
- Page 35 and 36: First Floor Rome and Aventicum The
- Page 37 and 38: First Floor Rome and Aventicum The
- Page 39 and 40: First Floor Religion Roman Religion
- Page 41 and 42: First Floor Religion Roman Religion
- Page 43 and 44: First Floor Religion The Local Gods
- Page 45 and 46: First Floor From Late Antiquity to
- Page 47: Second Floor Clothes and Jewellery
- Page 51 and 52: Second Floor Textile Production 3.
- Page 53 and 54: Second Floor Gardens There were var
- Page 55 and 56: Second Floor Protective Gods of the
- Page 57 and 58: Second Floor Kitchen and Tableware
- Page 59 and 60: Second Floor Food The Table of the
- Page 61: Second Floor Food Types of Tablewar
Second Floor Body and Health Care<br />
Ancient medicine was developed in Greece, where Hippocrates (460 <strong>–</strong> 370 BC)<br />
was the most famous physician. Both in Rome itself and in the provinces doctors<br />
were often of Greek origin. A great number of practitioners were itinerant; some<br />
worked close to sanctuaries, military hospitals (valetudinarium) or in private<br />
practices (taberna medica). In some towns <strong>–</strong> amongst them Aventicum <strong>–</strong> the doctors’<br />
guild owned a meeting place (schola) (inscription no. 23 on the ground floor; 1). The<br />
profession was also open to women.<br />
Medical training was obtained by working with a renowned doctor for several<br />
years. At the end of this apprenticeship the new doctor knew how to reset a<br />
fracture, amputate a foot or a hand and then cauterize the wound with a red-hot<br />
iron, ligature a blood vessel and operate on a cataract. To carry out these various<br />
operations he would have used scalpels with interchangeable blades (nos. 21-23),<br />
hooks to lift or separate flesh, sounds (tubes) to cauterize or probe wounds (nos. 42-<br />
46), spatulas for scooping out or spreading a product, removing a cyst or even the<br />
whole eye (nos. 42-51).<br />
The best-known medications were eye creams. In fact, the eye doctors in Gaul<br />
even used seals (no. 30; 3), which they pressed into the solid substances. These<br />
stamps usually contained the name of the doctor, the composition of the cream, the<br />
type of medical condition it was to heal and its expected effect. These medicines<br />
were based on plant, metal and animal substances and had to be diluted before<br />
use; some of the components had therapeutic properties, which are still recognised<br />
today.<br />
1-2. Bronze heads.<br />
3. Stone male head (Pan).<br />
4. Iron razor or knife with bone handle.<br />
5-6. Fragments of bronze mirror.<br />
7. Lead back of a mirror depicting the three Graces (2).<br />
8. Bone comb (copy).<br />
9-19. Glass, bronze and ceramic perfume flasks.<br />
20. Bronze ointment mortar.<br />
21-23. Bronze scalpel handles.<br />
24. Bronze medical hook.<br />
25. Bronze needle, used for treating cataract (?).<br />
26. Silver probe with eyelet hole for inserting a thread.<br />
27. Bronze forceps.<br />
28-29. Bronze tweezers.<br />
30-31. Oculist’s stamp (3) with the inscription COE[N?] used for sealing cakes of eye<br />
ointment to identify the type of medicine; small stone grinding plate.<br />
32. Mosaic depicting the face of a woman (personification of summer).<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
48<br />
Second Floor<br />
3
Change language