The Augustan coins from Bourbonne-les-Bains (Haute-Marne). A mathematical approach to dating a coin assemblage - article ; n°154 ; vol.6, pg 145-182

Eberhard Sauer

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Revue numismatique - Année 1999 - Volume 6 - Numéro 154 - Pages 145-182
Summary. - One of the largest Augustan coin deposits, ever discovered, was found in 1 874/75 in the thermal waters of the Puisard Romain at Bourbonne-les-Bains. It is argued that this assemblage of votive offerings, which has largely escaped the notice of the wider academic community, constitutes evidence for an army spa, possibly the earliest spa outside the Mediterranean provinces, and for a military base nearby. As it had been widely accepted that no troops were left in the hinterland during the Germanic Wars of Augustus, this is of major interest for the political history of Gaul and Germany. The emphasis in this paper, is, however, not on the historical aspects of this discovery, ' but on the precise dating of the phase of deposition, which is the precondition for any historical interpretation. Mathematical calculations as well as more conventional methods are employed to date the deposit. It is suggested that deposition started around 9 ВС and that it came to an end around AD 1 .
38 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

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• Publié par: REVUE_NUMISMATIQUE
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1999
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

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Eberhard Sauer
The Augustan coins from Bourbonne-les-Bains (Haute-Marne).
A mathematical approach to dating a coin assemblage
In: Revue numismatique, 6e série - Tome 154, année 1999 pp. 145-182.
Abstract
Summary. - One of the largest Augustan coin deposits, ever discovered, was found in 1 874/75 in the thermal waters of the
Puisard Romain at Bourbonne-les-Bains. It is argued that this assemblage of votive offerings, which has largely escaped the
notice of the wider academic community, constitutes evidence for an army spa, possibly the earliest spa outside the
Mediterranean provinces, and for a military base nearby. As it had been widely accepted that no troops were left in the hinterland
during the Germanic Wars of Augustus, this is of major interest for the political history of Gaul and Germany. The emphasis in
this paper, is, however, not on the historical aspects of this discovery, ' but on the precise dating of the phase of deposition, which
is the precondition for any historical interpretation. Mathematical calculations as well as more conventional methods are
employed to date the deposit. It is suggested that deposition started around 9 ВС and that it came to an end around AD 1 .
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Sauer Eberhard. The Augustan coins from Bourbonne-les-Bains (Haute-Marne). A mathematical approach to dating a coin
assemblage. In: Revue numismatique, 6e série - Tome 154, année 1999 pp. 145-182.
doi : 10.3406/numi.1999.2240
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/numi_0484-8942_1999_num_6_154_2240BAUER* Eberhard
THE AUGUSTAN COINS FROM
BOURBONNE-LES-BAINS (HAUTE-MARNE)
A MATHEMATICAL APPROACH TO DATING
A COIN ASSEMBLAGE**
(PL ХШХ-ХХХ)
that academic 1 874/75 Summary. this assemblage in community, the - thermal One of constitutes the waters votive largest offerings, of the evidence Augustan Puisard which for coin Romain has an deposits, army largely at Bourbonne-les-Bains. spa, escaped ever possibly discovered, the the notice earliest was of It the is found spa argued wider out in
side the Mediterranean provinces, and for a military base nearby. As it had been widely
accepted that no troops were left in the hinterland during the Germanic Wars of Augustus,
this is of major interest for the political history of Gaul and Germany. The emphasis in
this paper, is, however, not on the historical aspects of this discovery, ' but on the precise
dating of the phase of deposition, which is the precondition for any historical interpreta
tion. Mathematical calculations as well as more conventional methods are employed to
date the deposit. It is suggested that deposition started around 9 ВС and that it came to an
end around AD 1 .
Résumé. - Un des plus grands dépôts de monnaies augustéennes jamais découverts a été
mis au jour en 1874-1875 dans le Puisard romain de la source thermale de Bourbonne-les-
Bains. Il est ici suggéré que cet ensemble d'offrandes votives qui n'a pour ainsi dire fait
l'objet d'aucune étude scientifique manifeste la présence d'un établissement thermal (le
premier, peut-être, hors des provinces méditerranéennes) et d'une base militaire à proxi
mité, ce qui est du plus grand intérêt pour l'histoire politique de la Gaule et de la Germanie
dans la mesure où on a admis généralement que les troupes ne stationnèrent pas dans
* Keble College, Oxford 0X1 3PG, U.K. School of Archaeological Studies, University of
Leicester University Road, Leicester LEI 7RH Royaume-Uni.
** I would like to thank Mr H. Troisgros for making it possible for me to study the coins at
Bourbonne and for letting me profit from his extensive knowledge on the local history. I am very
grateful to Dr С. Е. King for discussing this paper with me and for her very valuable advice on nu
mismatic matters throughout my studies at Oxford. I am also indebted to Professor B. W. Cunliffe
and to Dr M. Henig for their essential support for the research for my thesis, parts of which are
presented here. I would like to thank Dr M. Amandry for his kind help in the project. 1 acknowl
edge gratefully the scholarship provided by British Academy, the Craven Committee and the
Meyerstein Fund.
1. For the historical interpretation see E. Sauer, "The Augustan army spa at Bourbonne-les-
Bains, in A. K. GoldsworthyTI. Haynes (eds.), The Roman Army as a community in peace and
war. Proc. of a conference, Birkbeck College, University of London, 11-12 January 1997 (JRA
Suppl.), Michigan, forthcoming 1999; cf. id., The coin deposit from Bourbonne-les-Bains in the
light of coin offerings in springs in the Roman Empire: evidence for an Augustan army spa in Gaul
(DPhil-thesis and monograph in preparation).
Revue numismatique, 1999, p. 145-182 146 EBERHARD SAUER
* •— •.*»
»• í * H!Héij|i *i <
Fig. 1. - Selection of well preserved undivided coins and other objects from the
Puisard Mr Prechey. Romain at Bourbonne-les-Bains. Photograph taken in 1875 by
Fig. pieces Photograph considered 2. - Larger of jewellery to taken imperial be more in 1875 were pieces photogenic by prominently were Mr Prechey. than preferentially halves placed or chosen; quadrantes. on top apparently of Gold the they selection coins were and THE AUGUSTAN COINS FROM BOURBONNE-LES-BAINS (HAUTE-MARNE) 147
l'arrière-pays lors des guerres germaniques d'Auguste. Cet article s'attache plus spécif
iquement à dater le dépôt, en préalable à toute interprétation historique. Des modèles ma
thématiques aussi bien que des méthodes plus classiques sont utilisées pour cette datation :
les dépôts semblent avoir commencé vers 9 av. J.-C. pour s'achever vers l'an 1 ap. J.-C.
In winter 1874/75 the catchment installation of the Puisard Romain, the
main thermal spring at Bourbonne-les-Bains, had to be renewed. Modern
pumps drained for the first time ever the entire spring basin. At its bot
tom, embedded in sediments, a large number of Roman coins was disco
vered. Figures vary in the early reports, but it is clear that their number
exceeded 4500; 2 this figure does not include the coins which had disinte
grated in the salt-rich water, many of them (estimated at over 1000, pro
bably even several thousands) 3 having left imprints in the conglomerate.
One report4 estimates the number of coins recovered at over 10 000, se
veral thousands of which were stolen from the extracted sediments
shortly after the recovery. This discovery, however, has escaped the no
tice of the wider scientific community with the exception of dedicated
local historians for over 120 years now. Already the early reports of
Daubrée and Rigaud5 contain valuable observations on the coins found in
the process of these operations. Despite some clearly incorrect identifi
cations, even these short passages would have allowed the observant rea
der to recognize that this was one of the largest early imperial coin depos
its north of the Alps : Daubrée mentions 600 halved coins and Rigaud
even 782; halved coins are a characteristic of early imperial assemblages,
and as at least the identification of halved coins as such, does, of course,
not require a trained eye, the reference to a high proportion of halved
coins would have provided sufficient evidence, even if one had doubted
other important observations. A small number of coins was taken by the
Cabinet des Médailles б, where they are no longer traceable today. 7
2. J.-B.-A. Doby, Numismatique, in La Cure Thermale à Bourbonne-les-Bains. Guide Pratique
à I 'usage de Baigneur, 3e éd., с. 1 903, p. 235 (réf. kindly provided by Mr H. Troigros); Daubrée,
Formation contemporaine de diverses espèces minérales cristallisées dans la source thermale de
Bourbonne-les-Bains. Annales des Mines, T série, 8, 1875, p. 443 ; id., Sur la formation contemp
oraine, dans la source thermale de Bourbonne-les-Bains (Haute-Marne), de diverses espèces mi
nérales cristallisées,... Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences
80, 22 Fév. 1875, p. 462 n. 1 ; M.F. Rigaud, Notice sur les travaux exécutés à Bourbonne-les-
Bains. Annales des Mines, T série, 17, 1880, p. 489-490.
3. Daubrée, Formation, op. cit. n. 2, p. 443-445 ; 454.
4. La Cure Thermale à Bourbonne-les-Bains. Guide Périodique, T année, с 1907, p. 243 (réf.
kindly provided by Mr H. Troisgros); cf. H. Troisgros, Bourbonne-les-Bains et sa région,
Langres, 1994, p. 27 ; id., Offrandes et ex-voto au couple divin Borvo-Damona dans la station ther
male gallo-romaine de Bourbonne-les-Bains, Les cahiers Haut-Marnais, 4/ 203, 1995, p. 99.
5. Daubrée, Formation, op. cit. n. 2, p. 445, 454 ; Rigaud, op. cit. n. 2, p. 489-490.
6. A. Chabouhxet, Notice sur des inscriptions et des antiquités provenant de Bourbonne-les-
Bains, RA. Nouvelle série, 39, 1880, p. 33-34 ; Cure, op. cit. n. 2, p. 235-236 ; unpubl. letters,
Préfecture de la Haute-Marne, of 13/12/1 877 and 1 1/1/1 878, kindly provided by Mr H. Troisgros.
7. Kind information by Dr M. Amandry.
ЙЛЧ999, p. 145-182 EBERHARD SAUER 1