After the haphazard excavations of the years 1958-1961, the site was seen from an aircraft in 1989, magnificently outlined in a field of regrowing lucerne, and a precise record was made, followed by a limited excavation. The discovery of two decapitated men whose corpses had been thrown into a grain pit which already contained the partially chopped up remains of a horse – the horse/man combination is relevant to the Gallic period – indicates practices long predating the site.
In about 200 BC, damaged weapons, hammered and broken on purpose, were placed in a geometric pattern on the ground at the edges of the sacred site, and buried immediately. The large oval ditch surrounding the temple also contained the remains of weapons, belt buckles and tools, as well as human bones.
In the early 1st century BC, votive wheels made of gold (very few examples), silver, potin, bronze and especially lead – manufactured at the site – replaced the deposits of weapons. In the mid 1st century offerings of coins increased and soon outnumbered anything else. A few bronze ex voto (mainly eyes) have been found.
Following a period of spectacular expansion, this religious centre became a town, but disappeared during the later Roman Empire, its marble monuments ending their days in lime kilns.
