Two Ivory Dolls and Romanisation

29 November 2019

Underneath a Roman necropolis with 311 graves in Yverdon-Les-Bains (Eburodunum in Roman times), excavations revealed numerous remains, such as earthen and wooden buildings from the beginning of our era and the masonry foundations of a later cellar.

Two tiny ivory dolls were also found. They are related to the first models that appeared in Rome. The hairstyle imitates the models in vogue at the imperial court in Rome. In the absence of a precise archaeological context, this is a good dating criterion. The best comparisons come from early fourth-century hairstyles used by women of the Constantinian family during 306-330 AD.

While these figurines were relatively common in the 4th century in Spain, southern France and Italy, few examples from Switzerland and Roman-Germany are known.

The two dolls from Yverdon-Les-Bains, attested between the 4th and 6th centuries, reveal a high technical and artistic quality that has, until now, hardly found an equivalent north of the Alps.

The discovery of such pieces remains an exceptional phenomenon that can be explained by the presence of a fully romanised Gallo-Roman wealthy family.
(F. Rossi, “Deux poupées en ivoire d’époque romaine à Yverdon-les-Bains” in Archéologie suisse, 1993, No 4).