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42-565: The grave of the Lady of Vix , dating to circa 500 BC, had never been disturbed and thus contained remarkably rich grave offerings. Known in French as the Trésor de Vix , these included a great deal of jewelry and the bronze "Vix krater ", the largest known metal vessel from Western classical antiquity . The sites are located near the village of Vix, about 6 km north of Châtillon-sur-Seine , in

84-425: A kylix ( pl. : kylikes ). In fact, Homer 's Odyssey describes a steward drawing wine from a krater at a banquet and then running to and fro pouring the wine into guests' drinking cups. The modern Greek word now used for undiluted wine, krasi ( κρασί ), originates from the krasis ( κράσις , lit.   ' mixing ' ) of wine and water in kraters. Pottery kraters were glazed on

126-424: A sky parlor or a garret . Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's top floor and its slanted roof, attics are known for being awkwardly-shaped spaces with difficult-to-reach corners and often exposed rafters . While some attics are converted into bedrooms, home offices, or attic apartments complete with windows and staircases, most remain difficult to access, and are usually entered using

168-582: A Celtic tomb in central France, is the largest known Greek krater , being 1.63 m in height and over 200 kg in weight. Others were in silver, which were too valuable and tempting to thieves to be buried in graves, and have not survived. Ornamental stone kraters are known from Hellenistic times, the most famous being the Borghese Vase of Pentelic Marble and the Medici Vase , also of marble. After rediscovery of these pieces, imitations became

210-514: A bronze torc, six fibulae, six slate bracelets, plus a seventh bracelet made of amber beads. The grave also contained an assemblage of imported objects from Italy and the Greek world, all of them associated with the preparation of wine. They included the famous krater (see below), a silver phiale (shallow bowl, sometimes seen as a local product), an Etruscan bronze oinochoe (wine jug), and several drinking cups from Etruria and Attica . One of

252-441: A habitable room without an attic may use an insulated roof so that moist air from the habitable area cannot condense on the roofing materials. Also, a building with a complex roof or many piercings between the conditioned area and the attic might control condensation better or more cheaply with an insulated roof and a vapor barrier. One common code requirement is that the total area of attic vents be equal to or greater than 1/150 of

294-451: A locally based amateur, began in April 1930. Increasingly systematic work throughout the following decades revealed thousands of pottery sherds, fibulae , jewellery, and other bronze and iron finds. The burial mound with the krater was excavated in early 1953 by René Joffroy. In 1991 new archaeological research on and around Mont Lassois began under the direction of Bruno Chaume. Since 2001

336-441: A loft hatch and ladder. Attics help control temperatures in a house by providing a large mass of slowly moving air, and are often used for storage. The hot air rising from the lower floors of a building is often retained in attics, further compounding their reputation as inhospitable environments. However, in recent years, they have been insulated to help decrease heating costs, since, on average, uninsulated attics account for 15% of

378-536: A mastery of geometry and carpentry capable of freeing up vast interior spaces". Geomagnetic surveying has revealed another large apsidal building in a large walled area at the foot of Mont Lassois, on the other side of the river Seine. The building is of similar size and design to those on the Mont Lassois plateau and has also been described as a 'palatial' building. All six large buildings have an identical east-west orientation with their main entrances facing towards

420-468: A programme of research titled "Vix et son environnement" began, uniting the resources of several universities. Excavation of the settlement on the summit of Mont Lassois revealed extensive fortifications, with ditches and walls up to 8 m thick. The walls were built in the Pfostenschlitzmauer technique, but also yielded nails of the type common in murus gallicus walls. Excavation inside

462-519: A staple of garden decoration in the Baroque and Neoclassical periods. The French artist and landscape designer Hubert Robert included the Borghese Vase, both alone and together with other stone kraters, in several of his works. Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a loft ) is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as

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504-416: Is accompanied by many items of jewellery, but no weaponry. Her social status is not clear and other than "Lady," names such as, Queen , Princess , or Priestess of Vix have all been used in various articles involving conjecture. There can be no doubt of her high status, as indicated by the large amounts of jewellery. She was between 30 years and 35 years old at the time of her death. The inhumation burial

546-551: Is derived from the Attica region of Greece and comes from Attic style architecture. The term referred to "a low decorative façade above the main story of a building" and, as used in the phrase "attic order", had originally indicated a small decorative column above a building's main façade. Modern building codes permit both vented and unvented attics in all climates, if a building is otherwise correctly constructed. However, unoccupied attics should usually be ventilated to reduce

588-570: The department of Côte-d'Or , in northeastern Burgundy. The complex is centred on Mont Lassois , a steep, flat-topped hill that dominates the area. It was the site of a fortified Celtic settlement, or oppidum . To the southeast of the hill, there was a 42-hectare necropolis with graves ranging from the Late Bronze Age via the Hallstatt Culture to Late La Tène . Other finds indicate activity up to Late Antiquity . During

630-521: The Classical period the volute-type continued to be very popular along with the calyx-type, and beside the Corinthian workshop an Attic one was probably active. Exquisite exemplars of both volute- and calyx-kraters come from Macedonian 4th century BC graves. Among them the gilded Derveni Krater represents an exceptional chef d'œuvre of late Classical metalwork. The Vix bronze crater , found in

672-774: The Greek world, and usually made of clay. The Vix krater has become an iconic object representing both the wealth of early Celtic burials and the art of Late Archaic Greek bronze work. The enormous variety of apparently Mediterranean imports indicates wide-ranging trade connections; in particular, the Mediterranean material might have come to Vix with Greek or Etruscan traders (the krater may have been produced in Sybaris). The wealth of imported luxury goods at Vix is, so far, unique in La Tène Europe. It has been suggested that

714-593: The accumulation of heat and moisture that contribute to mold growth and decay of wood rafters and ceiling joists. In cold climates ventilation also helps to prevent ice-dams on the roof and leaks that they cause. In hot climates, ventilation reduces cooling loads. Sometimes an insulated roof with an internal vapor barrier is preferable to a ventilated attic. In areas with wildfire hazards, sparks can enter attic vents, so houses are safer without vents. Areas with wind-driven rain, fog or sea-spray might also prefer houses with insulated roofs instead of vents. A habitable attic, or

756-407: The area. Three of them have been excavated so far. In 1994, fragments of two stone statues, a warrior, and a figure of a woman, were discovered in a small enclosure. In the area, as elsewhere in central and western Europe, the early Iron Age led to changes in social organisation, including a marked tendency toward the development of social hierarchies. It seems that at the top of these hierarchies

798-519: The back and a front porch in antis . Overall, the central unit resembles the megaron complex of early Greek architecture . Such a find is unprecedented in early Celtic Europe. Finds suggested domestic use or feasting uses. The structure has been described as the "Palace" of the Lady of Vix ( Palais de la Dame de Vix ). According to Chaume (2011): "The interior space of about 500 m ² is divided into three rooms of unequal size. This achievement demonstrates

840-471: The beginning of each symposium a symposiarch ( συμποσίαρχος , symposíarchos , 'lord of the common drink'), was elected by the participants. He would then assume control of the wine servants, and thus of the degree of wine dilution and how it changed during the party, and the rate of cup refills. The krater and how it was filled and emptied was thus the centerpiece of the symposiarch 's authority. An astute symposiarch should be able to diagnose

882-468: The body of the vase. Bell kraters were first made in the early 5th century, which meant that it came later than the three other krater types. This form of krater looks like an inverted bell with handles that are faced up. Bell kraters are red-figure and not black-figure like the other kraters. According to most scholars ceramic kraters imitated shapes designed initially for metal vessels; these were common in antiquity, but survivals are very rare, as

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924-505: The body/ shoulder area was one, the base another, and the neck/ lip/ rim a third. The handles were pulled separately. They were studied by archaeologist Tomris Bakır . These are among the largest of the kraters, supposedly developed by the potter Exekias in black-figure style, though in fact almost always seen in red. The lower body is shaped like the calyx of a flower, and the foot is stepped. The psykter -shaped vase fits inside it so well stylistically that it has been suggested that

966-564: The burials at Hochdorf and Magdalenenberg , the Heuneburg settlement and the Glauberg settlement and burial complex. Iron ores were far more widespread than the more rare copper and especially tin ores needed to produce the previously dominant bronze. Thus economic success ceased to be determined simply by access to the raw materials, but started to depend on infrastructure and trade. The increasing economic surplus in well-situated places

1008-408: The column krater, but the handles are unique: to make each, the potter would have first made two side spirals ("volutes") as decorative disks, then attached a long thin slab of clay around them both forming a drum with flanged edges. This strip would then have been continued downward until the bottom of the handle, where the potter would have cut a U-shaped arch in the clay before attaching the handle to

1050-431: The contemporary Greek-settled areas of southern France. The amphorae had been used for transporting wine. Jewellery included fibulae , commonly decorated with amber or coral, earrings, beads, slate bracelets, and rings. Glass ornaments also were found. Some small bronze figurines found are probably of Mediterranean origin. Little weaponry has been found as yet, the majority of it projectiles and axes. Mont Lassois has all

1092-518: The degree of inebriation of his fellow symposiasts and make sure that the symposium progressed smoothly and without drunken excess. This form originated in Corinth in the seventh century BC, but was taken over by the Athenians where it is typically black-figure . They ranged in size from 35 centimetres (14 in) to 56 centimetres (22 in) in height and were usually thrown in three pieces:

1134-467: The enclosure revealed a variety of buildings, including post houses, pit dwellings , hearths, and storage units built on stilts. Geophysical work shows a large planned settlement, with a central, north–south axis and several phases of buildings. In 2006, a large complex with five large buildings was discovered at the centre of the site. The main building measured 35 by 22 m, with an estimated interior height of at least 15 m. The large hall had an apse at

1176-687: The energy loss in average houses. A loft or mezzanine is also the uppermost space in a building, but is distinguished from an attic in that an attic typically constitutes an entire floor of the building, while a loft or mezzanine covers only a few rooms, leaving one or more sides open to the lower floor. Attics are found in many different shapes and sizes. They also have many uses: In residential buildings, they are either small unusable spaces filled with insulation, or spaces with storage or HVAC equipment. Some commercial buildings also have attics under pitched roofs that are usually used for storage, mechanical equipment, or for roof access. The word "attic"

1218-408: The features of a high-status settlement: large fortifications, the presence of a citadel and a lower town, rare and fine imported materials, as well as numerous rich burial mounds in the vicinity. The burial of "the Lady of Vix" took place around 500 BC Although decomposition of the organic contents of the grave was nearly total, the gender of the individual buried has been interpreted as female: she

1260-424: The floor area of the attic, with 50 percent or more of the vent area located in the upper portion of the attic. Vents and louvers should face away from prevailing winds to keep out driven rain. Soffit vents under the eaves normally provide the low vents. Louvered vents in gables can provide the high vents in small houses or short gables. If a ridge is open, some metal roofing systems can install ridge vents along

1302-475: The interior to make the surface of the clay more impervious for holding water, and possibly for aesthetic reasons, since the interior could easily be seen. The exterior of kraters often depicted scenes from Greek life, such as the Attic Late 1 Krater, which was made between 760 and 735 B.C.E. This object was found among other funeral objects, and its exterior depicted a funeral procession to the gravesite. At

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1344-408: The krater, the largest known Greek bronze vessel, should be seen in a context of high-status gift exchange connected with the trade of wine from the Mediterranean for raw materials from northern Europe. A reconstruction of the grave and the original finds are on display in the museum at Châtillon-sur-Seine . Apart from this woman's grave (mound I), there are five further known large burial mounds in

1386-500: The latter was dated as c. 525 BC and represents the latest firmly dated find in the grave. It thus provides the best evidence, a terminus post quem for its date. The vessels probably were placed on wooden tables or benches that did not survive. The largest and most famous of the finds from the burial is an elaborately decorated bronze volute krater , 1.64 metres (5.4 ft) in height and weighing 208.6 kilograms (460 lb). Kraters were vessels for mixing wine and water, common in

1428-589: The metal was recyclable. Among the largest and most famous metal kraters in antiquity were one in the possession of the Samian tyrant Polycrates , and another one dedicated by Croesus to the Delphic oracle . There are a few extant Archaic bronze kraters (or often only their handles), almost exclusively of the volute-type. Their main production centres were Sparta , Argos and Corinth , in Peloponnesus. During

1470-400: The preceding habit of uniform simple urn burials. It is also seen in the changing settlement patterns of the region. Whereas large open settlements had previously served as central places, smaller enclosed settlements developed, often in locally prominent locations (so called manors or "princely sites"). Several of these sites are known from Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène Europe, for example,

1512-520: The sixth and fifth centuries BC, the Vix (or Mont Lassois) settlement appears to have controlled a major trading node, where the Seine , an important riverine transport route linking eastern and western France, crossed the land route leading from the Mediterranean to northern Europe. Additionally, Vix is at the centre of an agriculturally rich plain. Discovery of archaeological material in the area, originally by

1554-791: The sunrise in the east. This configuration may have been chosen for symbolic rather than practical reasons. Various authors have suggested that the Lady of Vix may have been a priestess as well as a 'queen'. The many individual finds from the Lassois oppidum clearly demonstrate the settlement's long and wide-ranging trade contacts, as well as its own role as an economic centre. The most common finds are shards of pottery, with more than 40,000 recorded to date. Many are local products, decorated with simple geometric motifs (checkerboard patterns) and occasional depictions of animals. There also have been finds of imported Attic black figure vases from Greece. Many amphorae and bowls could be identified as coming from

1596-555: The two might have often been made as a set. It is always made with two robust upturned handles positioned on opposite sides of the lower body or "cul". This type of krater, defined by volute -shaped handles, was invented in Laconia in the early 6th century BC, then adopted by Attic potters. Its production was carried on by Greeks in Apulia until the end of the 4th century BC. Its shape and method of manufacture are similar to those of

1638-510: Was a large two-handled type of vase in Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. At a Greek symposium , kraters were placed in the center of the room. They were quite large, so they were not easily portable when filled. Thus, the wine-water mixture would be withdrawn from the krater with other vessels, such as a kyathos ( pl. : kyathoi ), an amphora ( pl. : amphorai ), or

1680-451: Was an aristocracy that had developed in the context of the increasingly important trade in iron ore and iron. Whether they really were "princesses" or "princes" in a modern sense (i.e., a noble or religious aristocracy) or simply represented an economic or mercantile elite is still the subject of much discussion. Evidence for these changed social conditions is seen in the richly equipped graves of this period, which stand in sharp contrast to

1722-604: Was invested in representative settlements (and fortifications), jewellery, and expensive imported luxury materials, a differentiation not previously possible. [REDACTED] Media related to Tombe de la princesse de Vix at Wikimedia Commons 47°54′23″N 04°31′58″E  /  47.90639°N 4.53278°E  / 47.90639; 4.53278 Krater A krater or crater ( Ancient Greek : κρᾱτήρ , romanized :  krātḗr , lit.   'mixing vessel', IPA: [kraː.tɛ̌ːr] ; Latin : crātēr , IPA: [ˈkraː.teːr] )

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1764-410: Was placed in a 4 m x 4 m rectangular wooden chamber underneath a mound or tumulus of earth and stone which originally measured 42 m in diameter and 5 m in height. Her body was laid in the freestanding box of a cart, or chariot , the wheels of which had been detached and placed beside it. Only its metal parts have survived. Her jewellery included a 480 gram 24-carat gold torc / diadem ,

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