Avenches – Roman Museum – Permanent Exhibition

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Second Floor Furniture Lighting (1) (Display case 6) A Gallo-Roman house was naturally lit through its doors and only a few windows, which were closed at night with wooden shutters. Glass windowpanes were only found in rich private houses and in the public baths. These windowpanes (nos. 3-5) with side lengths of 20 to 40 cm were fitted into the openings either in wooden frames or directly with mortar. For artificial lighting they used lamps made of pottery, bronze or iron with oil or tallow being used as a burning agent. Pottery lamps of Mediterranean origin (nos. 13-20) were often decorated and bore the maker’s stamp (no. 18). The wick was inserted through a closed nozzle into the oil chamber, where it was soaked in poor quality olive oil. Some metal lamps had fittings for suspension so that they could be hung from the ceiling or a candelabrum. Local types of lamps (nos. 8-12, 24) included open bowls with a wick swimming in tallow protruding from a lip. Candles, placed in ceramic or, sometimes, metal candlesticks (nos. 9 and 11), were also used to light the interior of the house. Those who dared to leave the house at night used torches or lanterns. Drawing of a lantern and a candelabrum (Not true to scale) 1-2. Legs of a bronze lantern. 3-5. Windowpane fragments. 6-7. Shaft and foot of bronze candelabrum. 8. Iron tallow lamp. 9-12. Ceramic tallow lamps. 13-20. Ceramic oil lamps (2). 21. Arm of bronze lamp in the shape of a panther. 22-23. Bronze oil lamps. 24. Bronze tallow lamp. 25. Bronze candleholder (?) in the shape of a peacock. Furniture (p. 52, 1) (Display case 7) Roman furniture included seats, tables, beds, chests and cupboards mainly made of wood or wickerwork. Practically nothing has survived, with the exception of metal fittings such as hinges (nos. 25-27), locks (nos. 13 and 14, 19, 36 and 38) or decorative elements (nos. 1- 6, 15), sometimes made of bone (nos. 29 – 32), ivory (nos. 39-42) or glass (no. 28). Some pieces of furniture could be directly built into the walls (benches, dining room couches or shelves). 2 1 51 Second Floor 6 7
Second Floor Gardens There were various types of seats: stools, benches, chairs and armchairs, sometimes made more comfortable by adding cushions. The tables placed next to the dining room couches in Mediterranean style were round and low, while rectangular and high tables, around which one could sit, represent local custom. The couches, on which one lay down for meals, were often quite elaborately decorated with bronze or – less frequently – bone or ivory fittings and were covered with mattresses and cushions. For stowing away ones belongings, one mainly used different sizes of chests, which were often decorated. In certain houses precious objects or family archives were placed in a cupboard, the upper part of which could be used as a lararium (small house altar). Chests and cupboards were closed with locks, some of which had rather complicated mechanisms (no. 38). 1-5. Bronze busts attached to furniture or doors. 6. Bronze bust, decorating an armrest. 7-12. Iron and bronze keys (2). 13-14. Bolts from iron and bronze locks. 15. Iron decorative element inlaid with gold and copper. 16-18. Bronze handles. 19. Box of silver-plated bronze lock with niello decoration. 20-24. Bronze key rings. 25-27. Bronze, iron and bone furniture hinges. 28-32. Fragments with glass and bone inlay. 33-35. Bronze nails with figurative heads. 36. Bronze lock back plate. 37. Bronze leg of a piece of furniture or a brazier. 38. Lock with bronze and iron key. 39-42. Ivory plates (copies). Gardens (3) A great number of the houses in Aventicum included a green space, for instance a vegetable patch or an ornamental garden. The latter were often situated where they could be enjoyed from the reception rooms. Decorated round discs (oscilla) (no. 1), which swung in the wind, were sometimes suspended between the columns of the portico surrounding the garden. Statues, fountains, stone benches and tables, water basins or arbours, which could be used as dining rooms in the summer, were all part of the usual fittings of these gardens. A variety of plants were used to form geometric patterns. 1 2 3 52 Second Floor 7
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 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 and 48: Second Floor Clothes and Jewellery
Page 49 and 50: Second Floor Body and Health Care A
Page 51: Second Floor Textile Production 3.
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

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