François CholletVerified account

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.