Bibracte - Discovery of Bibracte

Discovery of Bibracte

The first mention of Bibracte in history was made by Julius Caesar in his Commentaries on the Gallic War in the year 58 BCE. It was mentioned again in 52 BCE, during which he was questioning the intentions of his Aedui allies, who had joined the revolt and crowned Vercingetorix king of the Gauls at Bibracte. It would not be mentioned again. Inscriptions from the era announced that the capital of the Aedui had received the name Augustodunum (the citadel of Augustus), under Augustus' reign; this name gave rise to the current Autun.

Starting in the 16th century, a passion for local history arose among scholars, aristocrats, and clergy, which led to the question of the location of Bibracte. Many theories would clash. One placed Bibracte at Autun: the Gallic city at the site of the Gallo-Roman city. Another placed it at Beaune and was defended by the scholar Hugues de Salins. A third theory stated that the city was on the slopes of Beuvrect or Bevrect, today known as Mont Beuvray. This last theory was based on three major arguments. First of all, there is a connection between the names Bibracte and Beuvrect. Next, this theory invoked a tradition passed down by medieval chronicles which situated the city at Beuvrect. This was reinforced by the existence of an annual fair on the first Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of May, the age of which is attested to in texts from the 13th century. Finally, the discovery of pottery, coins, and the observations of the priest of Saint-Léger-sous-Beuvray in 1725 supports it.

Generally, the Autun hypothesis received the greatest approval at first. Moreover, Autun was renamed Bibracte after the revolution and remained so for some time. It took until the 19th century and the research of Jacques Gabriel Bulliot for the situation to change in favor of Mont Beuvray. In 1851, Bulliot decided to communicate with the Congress of the French Society of Archeology about an ancient chapel (the Saint Martin chapel on Mont Beuvray) established to Christianize the Aedui. He also returned to Mont Beuvray to take more notes. He discovered what he thought was the embankment of a Roman camp (actually a nemeton) at the summit of Mont Beuvray next to the chapel. He documented it and considered placing Bibracte at Mont Beuvray instead of Autun, contrary to the unanimous opinion of the Aedui Society. The publication of his Essay on the Roman System of Defense in the Aedui country bettwen the Saône and the Loire, in which he revealed his convictions, was not taken seriously by the members of the Society of Archeology. Matters were moved along by the interest of Emperor Napoleon III in the battles of the Gallic Wars. In fact, Bulliot would be visited by an officer, named Stoffel, charged by the Emperor with conducting investigations of the Roman victory over the Helvetii. Bulliot informed him of his opinions about the location of Bibracte. The officer was not interested, but he gave Xavier Garenne, another member of the Aedui Society, the mission of making a survey of Mont Beavray. At the same time, the Viscount of Aboville, the owner of the land, conducted the necessary research and showed it to the Archbishop of Reims, who was also a member of the Aedui Society and a friend of Bulliot (despite their disagreement on the question of Bibracte). Interested by these investigations, the latter broke the news to the Emperor. Thus, in 1867, Napoleon III assigned Bulliot to do research at Mont Beavray and granted him funding.

Bulliot excavated the site from 1867 to 1905, removing all doubt about the location of Bibracte. His nephew Joseph Déchelette, whom he introduced to excavation, continued the work until 1907, comparing Bibracte to other sites in Europe such as Strakonice in Bohemia, Manching in Germany and Velem-Zenst-Vid in Hungary, which were precursors of the cultural unification of the Celtic world and of the civilization of oppida.