Archaeologists Uncover a Village of Plucky Little Gauls

My all-time favorite comics, in both French and English, are the Asterix books by Goscinny and Uderzo. The intro is always the same:

We are in the year 50 before Jesus Christ. All Gaul is occupied by the Romans . . . All? No! One village inhabited by indomitable Gauls still resists the invaders. And life is not easy for the garrisons of Roman legionnaries camped in Babaorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Petitbonum . . .

Now a team of French archaeologists may have unearthed evidence of a Gallic "holdout" culture that lasted well into the 3rd century AD:

A macabre 1,700-year-old mass grave of people and horses, discovered in Normandy, poses perplexing new questions about the Roman conquest of France. Was there a small part of ancient Gaul which refused, Asterix-like, to surrender for 300 years?

The grave site, from the 3rd century, which was discovered by French state archaeologists at Evreux, appears to contain ritual arrangements of human and horse remains. In one, a human skull is clasped between two horse's skulls, like the two halves of a giant shell.

In Gaullish times, 300 years earlier, graves containing both horses and people were common. No such grave has ever been found from the Roman period, and even in the previous era, the remains were kept carefully apart.

In the recently discovered grave, about 50 miles west of Paris, the bones appear to have been intentionally mixed. The skeletons of 40 people and 100 horses have been found so far.

Was this a local - or maybe more widespread - survival of the Gaullish cult of Epona, the goddess of horses and warriors?

Maybe, maybe not, but I believe the site map looks a little like this:

                                        

Comments

[CraigC]

You forgot to mention Obelix. He would not be happy.

[gail]

Well, his picture is up there anyway. And he's probably too busy transporting menhirs to worry.