Gallic then Gallo-Roman Varennes - Office de Tourisme Varennes

then Gallo-Roman Varennes
From an archaeological point of view,
this is an untypical city because of the
early human occupation. Polished
and heeled axes and various flints have
been discovered there for the end of
Prehistory. The territory was occupied
from the second millenium before our era,
and the crafts and trades with
the surrounding communities had
already begun to specialize.
But the most traces of occupation to be
found were from the Gallic and Gallo-Roman
eras.
At the Gallic era, Varennes-sur-Allier is
located in a pagus(1) at the crossroads
of four of the most powerful cities of
the central Gaul (Neris in the West,
Autun north-west, Lyon south-east,
and Clermont in the South).
This city is 20-acre wide, at the right
bank of the Allier; another city of about
the same size and named Vorogio, sitting
on top of it, is mentioned in the antique texts and
maps, on coins and various objects, and was located
under the current area of Vouroux.
During the first and second centuries before our era,
Varennes-sur-Allier, which is then a secondary urban
area, becomes a strategic crossroads with a
condensed rural population who specialized
in the production of raw materials available
on site like the schist or clay, as shown
by many remains. Others show the
importation and production (amphorae).
Varennes was an important commercial nerve
center.
From the Gallic era, the urban area of
Vouroux seems to have gotten into a
distribution network of Italian wine.
And the discovery in 2005 of a still
visible lime-kiln in the city shows a
limestone quarrying of the surroundings
along with an industrial lime production.
The presence of kilns also implies that
there was a strong hand-crafted production
and ceramics trade.
Mold fragments have been discovered: these
imply that there were workshops of figurine
production (coroplast) and bone craft objects
in the city.
And according to the many scoria(2) and finished
objects found, as fibulae, bracelets, rings and
brooches, metal workshops already existed
then.
As for the eras after the Roman occupation, coins
from the Merovingian dynasty have been discovered
and show an occupation carried on until the
establishment of a medieval Villefranche. The
urban area has existed for more than 23 centuries.
(1) Legal and territorial district during the Roman Antiquity,
of a surface about equal to the ones of the current cantons.
May also refer to secondary urban areas.
(2) Rock metal residues.
c-toucom.com • Photos : Musée Anne de Beaujeu
Gallic