Remains of an ancient tavern discovered at the ancient site of Lattara, dated to the 2nd century BC. The three red circles are leftovers from the oven. TAVERN. Ah, those Gauls! Always quick to raise your elbow! We had known for a long time about their taste for grand banquets, but we didn't really know since when the Galli began to frequent taverns, or where these establishments had appeared. Here is what is done! The first tabernae never found in France has just been discovered in the Lattara region, near Lattes in the Hérault. And she's 2100 years old! 5 km south of Montpellier, Lattara is an ancient port city located in the very early Romanized province of Narbonnaise. It is inside the ramparts of the city, in levels dating from the 2nd century BC, that the remains of this first "trade café" were unearthed. It is made up of two buildings, in which three terracotta ovens were enthroned, as well as grinding wheel supports. "We thought we had discovered a bakery !", explains Gaël Piques, (CNRS, Archeology of Mediterranean Societies) in a recent article published with Benjamin Luley (Gettysburg College) in the journal Antiquity .
A large horseshoe bench
But very quickly, the remains of a dining room with a large horseshoe bench, with a central fireplace are cleared. Then a pit filled with food waste and remains of butchery:beef scapulae, sheep shanks... "Quantities too large to correspond to private consumption" , continues the archaeologist. Debris of drinking vases, dishes, a few fragments of amphorae as well as Marseille coins complete the picture. "We had just discovered a tavern!" , enthuses Gaël Piques.
The concept of this new type of settlement hitherto unknown in Roman Gaul may have been brought to Lattara in the packages of the legions of Rome. In this Gallic world in full Romanization, the city, on the edge of the lagoon, was indeed a commercial port where goods were exchanged with Italy but also Spain and Greece. Wine, oil, fish sauces - the famous garum – passed through its quays. In 2013, the analysis of the contents of Etruscan amphoras and the discovery of grape presses on this same site had already constituted the first proof of viticulture in France, showing that the production of wine in this region of Languedoc-Roussillon had started in the region as early as 500 BC. That the first tavern is found three centuries later on the oldest wine production site in France is not without spice.
Who were the Gauls?
In Antiquity, the Greeks called Celts all the populations that occupied the Celtic space, while the Romans called them Galli (Gallic). Until Caesar's conquest, between 58 and 51 BC, "Gaul" was a space fragmented into a series of territories without units, dominated by peoples often in conflict. But areas bordering the Mediterranean have already been under Roman rule since the 2nd century BC. This is the case of the Narbonnaise.