Unusual
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Immerse yourself in the collections of the Musée archéologique d'Ensérune and travel across civilizations!
It all began in 1916...
All the archaeological items on display in the permanent exhibition at the Musée d'Ensérune come from excavations carried out on the Oppidum since 1916.
Thousands of objects have been unearthed, providing information on the daily life of the inhabitants of the fortified city occupied between the 6th century BC and the 3rd century AD.
Bone and coral work , the arts of fire (ceramics, metal, glass), agricultural tools and coins attest to the high technological level achieved by Celtic craftsmen.
The excavation of 500 tombs in the Ensérune necropolis, dating from between the 6th and 3rd centuries BC, has produced one of the largest collections of Celtic weaponry in Europe, as well as Greek, Iberian, Celtic, Etruscan and Roman ceramics from southern France.
The precious objects deposited in the tombs bear witness to the Celtic city's role as a commercial hub, ideally situated at the crossroads of the great Mediterranean civilizations.
Nearly 1,300 graffiti in Latin, Greek, Etruscan and Iberian alphabets are also referenced.
What is Collectio?
Access this inventory extracted from the " Collectio " inventory database, which enables the dissemination of knowledge on the collections conserved in 76 sites managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux.
More than 12,300 of the 137,000 items of cultural property conserved are protected as Monuments Historiques. 72,000 of these items are already available on Collectio.
The collections include fine art, archaeology, popular arts and traditions, contemporary art, ethnology, natural sciences, numismatics, libraries and archives. As part of the Department for the Conservation of Monuments and Collections, the Inventory's missions are to establish the ownership status of cultural assets, and to study, inventory, collect, manage and disseminate collections. Assets that may be registered in the inventory are those of historical or aesthetic interest. They come under public ownership and are therefore inalienable and imprescriptible.
