We invite you to a journey back in time of two millennia, to immerse yourself in a pivotal period that sees the appearance of large agglomerations in a vast space of temperate Europe, the structuring of territories and the intensification of craft production and trade.
Bibracte is the perfect example of what is called an oppidum, that is to say a vast fortified city which suddenly appeared in the second century BC, at the same time as two hundred others, It is impossible to say that the inhabitants of this vast area recognized each other as a common identity.
Who were the inhabitants of these oppida? How was their society organized? How have archaeologists contributed to resurrecting this key phase of Europe’s urbanization? And above all, how can we explain the numerous similarities between these sites, which are hundreds of kilometres apart? The museum answers all these questions.
All the exhibits are contemporary with Bibracte. Some have been borrowed from European museums, or copied from some of their most iconic pieces. Many are the result of excavations on Mount Beuvray. They all portray Bibracte and his time, characterized by the proliferation of agricultural, industrial, commercial, political and religious activities.