Subject of an exhibition in Clermont-Ferrand, the excavations of the site of Montels III in Cébazat brought to light a vase of wine infused with hemp within a tomb. Decryption of the importance of this discovery and these practices with Matthieu Poux, professor of archeology at the University of Lyon II.
Gallic tomb with hemp wine offering being excavated.
The exhibition "Exit of excavation", presented from February 24 to May 20, 2018 at the Bargoin museum, shows the result of the preventive excavations carried out in 2015 on the ZAC des Montels III site in Cébazat in Auvergne . Among the discoveries, statues, dog graves, wine press, the exhibition highlights in particular a burial containing a funeral offering of wine mixed with cannabis. The opportunity to return to the relationship between the Gauls and wine, with Matthieu Poux, professor of archeology at the University of Lyon II, director of the excavations near the oppidum of Corent and specialist in the theme of ancient wine. /P>
Sciences et Avenir:What makes the discovery of wine mixed with hemp in a Gallic burial remarkable?
Matthieu Poux: In general, regarding ancient wines, the various recipes that have come down to us and the analyzes that have been carried out show that practically all aromatic plants have been tested. Because the problem with this wine is that it quickly turns sour. So to be able to drink it, we put a bit of everything in it, plaster, sea water, camel grass, fenugreek (a herbaceous plant, editor's note)... Some plants have sanitizing properties, which slow down the effect of bacteria (this is the case with fenugreek, for example). This disinfecting, sanitizing effect can be added to a simply aromatic effect. Because it's nice to have a wine that smells of resin, thyme or something else...
In Gallic times, the first use of hemp - the plant that gives cannabis - was for textile use. But, given the number of different plant species and aromas that can be found in wine, it's no wonder you sometimes find hemp in it. The search for the psychotropic effect is not proven by the sole presence of this plant. Afterwards, hemp is not innocent and perhaps in this case, the Gauls were looking for these effects.
What role did wine have for the Gauls of the time?
Wine has several symbols:raising the dead, getting closer to the deities, it is likened to the blood that flows in war, etc... Alcoholic beverages have been present for a very long time, from the Bronze Age, in ceremonial practices in the form of mead, beer. The Gauls did not need wine. But it brings added value and is grafted onto ancient practices and the symbolism linked to blood, heroes, death, etc. Especially the metaphor of blood, beer rarely entering this metaphor.
This is why we find wine consumed and staged at banquets, at shrines, and why we find it in graves. Many amphoras are present in the richest tombs, and in those of the less well-to-do, the wine is rather in jugs and pitchers. There is also the private consumption of wine. Corent's excavation reveals that during ceremonies the brew is drunk neat by elites and not "cut" with water. We therefore do not find on the sanctuary, receptacles for mixing wine, such as craters or situlae.... But on the other hand, on the surrounding habitats, in the private setting, the aristocrats drink it "Roman style" ( therefore cut off with water).
Wine was imported into Gaul in amphoras like these. Wikimedia Commons - User:Sailko - CC BY 3.0
We often hear that the wine trade played a role in the "Romanization" of Gaul, is this true?
This needs to be qualified. The idea that prevailed until the 1990s was to say that wine was the "Trojan horse" of "Romanization". That is to say, as soon as the Celts adopted wine, they adopted the symposium, Roman table manners, etc… Indeed, the Gauls bought wine from the Romans. But according to my research, wine was grafted onto indigenous practices and did not fundamentally modify the institutional, ideological functioning of Gallic societies as has long been thought. The Gauls imported wine but not the ideology and practices that go with it. They incorporated it into their own rites.