Intact Roman Glass Vase Discovered in France

News November 16, 2020

(© Bérénice Bétend-Desgranges, Inrap)
SHARE:
France Glass Vase
(© Bérénice Bétend-Desgranges, Inrap)

AUTUN, FRANCE—Art News reports that a five-inch-tall glass vase decorated with the words “Vivas feliciter,” Latin for “live happily,” has been discovered in a late Roman–period grave in a cemetery in central France. The cemetery is also near Saint-Pierre l’Estrier, one of the oldest Christian churches in the region. Michel Kasprzyk of the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research said the intact, reticulated glass vase is the first to be unearthed in the ancient territories of Gaul. Sandstone sarcophagi, lead and wooden coffins, furniture, and jewelry have also been found at the site. “These exceptional and extremely rare discoveries are interesting avenues for the study of the aristocracy of Autun, precociously Christianized at the beginning of the fourth century,” Kasprzyk said. The vase will be stored away from light until it can be studied and restored. To read about statuettes and pottery recently unearthed at an ancient Roman city in Gaul, go to "A Day by the Rhone."

  • Features September/October 2020

    Walking Into New Worlds

    Native traditions and novel discoveries tell the migration story of the ancestors of the Navajo and Apache

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Jack Ives/Apachean Origins Project)
  • Letter from Alcatraz September/October 2020

    Inside the Rock's Surprising History

    Before it was an infamous prison, Fort Alcatraz played a key role defending the West Coast

    Read Article
    (Hans Blossey/Alamy Stock Photo)
  • Artifacts September/October 2020

    Neolithic Fishhook

    Read Article
    (Svein V. Nielsen, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo)
  • Digs & Discoveries September/October 2020

    Siberian Island Enigma

    Read Article
    (Andrei Panin; Petra Doeve)