Petinesca
PETINESCA in the country of the Helvetii, is placed in the Itins. between Aventicum (Avenches) and Salodurum (Solothurn); at the distance of xiii. in the Anton. Itin. from Aventicum and xiiii. in the Table; and at the distance of x. from Salodurum in both the Itineraries. Some geographers have placed Petinesca at a place named Büren; but the distance does not agree with that given by the Itins. between Petinesca and Salodurum, as D'Anville observes, who also says that the position of Bienne (Biel) corresponds to the ancient numbers, if we take them to indicate Gallic leagues. Cluver also placed Petinesca at Biel.
[G.L]Vicus and temple precinct at the E foot of the Jensberg, ca. 7 km SE of Biel. (The name appears in It. Ant. 353.1 and in Tab. Peut. as Petenisca.) The Roman settlement succeeded a fortified oppidum on the plateau of the Jensberg, some ramparts of which are still visible. The site is on the military highway from Aventicum to Salodurum, where the road over the Jura to Epamanduodurum (Mandeure) branches off. There was a military post here in the 1st c. A.D.; the mansio was fortified in the 3d c., and lasted into the 4th.
The vicus, the ruins of which cover the SE slopes of the Jensberg, has not been excavated. Part of the fortification walls and a tower with a gateway which closed off the main road are visible. Several buildings nearby are the remains of the mansio with its annexes and a bath. Above the posting station on the Gumpboden was a temple precinct which probably originally belonged to the oppidum. In the oblong enclosure (200 x 80 m) with entrances on three sides stood seven temples of Gaulish type (the largest 15 m on a side), two smaller chapels, and a service building. The cults have not been identified. The sanctuary has been partly restored. On the slope between this precinct and the settlement, at Ried, one temple of a second sanctuary has been found. The Museum Schwab is in Biel.
BIBLIOGRAPHYE. Lanz-Bloesch, “Die Ausgrabungen am Jensberg 1898-1904,” AnzSchweiz 8 (1906) 23-41, 113-27PI; F. Staehelin, Die Schweiz in römischer Zeit (3d ed. 1948) 351-52, 571, 621P; O. Tschumi, Urgeschichte des Kantons Bern (1953) s.v. Studen, 358-60; V. von Gonzenbach, BonnJbb 163 (1963) 93-95; H. Grütter, “Em zweiter Tempelbezirk in Studen, Petinesca,” Ur-Schweiz 28 (1964) 25-28PI.
V. VON GONZENBACH