François CholletVerified account

As people systematically dismantled the ruins, they found bones in the main room of the main building. Human bones. Lots of them. By the time they were done, they had unearthed 80 human skeletons, men and women, adults and children.

They were the inhabitants of the villa, masters and servants, who had perished together in the destruction of the complex in the 3rd or 5th century AD. Numerous animal bones were also found in the auxiliary buildings.

Among those who witnessed this was S. N., a friend of the land owner. A cultivator, he was an intelligent man who, despite not having had any secondary education, happened to be fond of ancient history. It is thanks to his involvement that we have a written trace of what happened

In 1859, archeology was in its infancy, and the preservation of ancient sites was not a concern, especially in the remote countryside. But S. N. understood that the discovery was significant, and he kept notes of everything that had been found.

In 1862, a local historical society was founded in the nearest town, 15km away. S. N. was not sufficiently well-connected to join it at first, but he eventually did in 1868, and he published a short article relating the discovery in the quarterly journal of the society.

His article is surprisingly well-written, rigorous, and scientific, albeit it is missing many important details.

Only a handful of people would have read about it back then. The discovery gained a little more coverage when it was mentioned a century later, in 1969, in a book about local history that may have had readership numbering in the hundreds.

The mention is little more than a quote of S. N.'s article, which is the sole primary source of information we have. By then, the “Blacklands” had already faded from memory. The villa had become a story, a rumor. The field laid in anonymity.