Discoveries at Glozel, Allier

Extract

The small village of Glozel, commune of Ferrières, is situated about twenty miles south-east of Vichy. No car nor carriage can go farther; you must walk almost a mile, first along a narrow lane, then down a steep hill, till you reach the right bank of a rivulet called Le Vareille, which flows into the Souchon, a tributary of the river Allier. Above the wooded bank of the Vareille, at the foot of the hill, extends a little plateau which was thickly wooded till thirty years ago, when the trees and bushes were cut down. In 1924 the Fradin family, owners of the land, decided to sow there some vegetables, and young Émile Fradin, then a boy of 18, began to dig up the soil. Soon he discovered a brick bearing some regularly distributed cup-marks which aroused his curiosity (he is intelligent, though completely devoid of learning). Fradin showed that brick to a schoolmistress, who was much interested and mentioned it to a schoolmaster; people began to talk about the discovery of ancient remains. Meanwhile, Fradin pursued his work and found an oval building, the soil of which was paved with bricks, one bearing an inscription. The inner walls of that small structure were entirely vitrified by fire. It may have been a (medieval ?) kiln, but that is now difficult to decide, because the visitors almost destroyed the walls before they had been examined by a competent person. As no bones were discovered, it cannot be considered as a tomb.