Today, exactly 500 years after the discovery of America, there is still a lot of controversy about the history of syphilis in Europe, especially about the Columbian and pre-Columbian hypotheses. This paper presents evidence for the presence of venereal treponematosis in the late Antiquity in France.The case that we examined comes from the necropolis of Costebelle (3rd-5th centuries AD; Hyeres, Var, France). Grave no. 1 contained the well-preserved skeleton of a relatively old woman with the skeletal remains of an approximately 7-month-old fetus in her pelvic cavity.The osseous lesions of the fetal remains can be described in four groups: periosteal appositions on the skull vault (frontal and parietal); signs of periostitis on the long bones (bilateral cortical irregularities, predominantly on the left side, which affect first of all tibiae, femora, fibulae, radii and humeri, particularly in the metaphyseal region); some infraperiosteal detachment reminiscent of an infraperiosteal haematoma surrounding the distal extremity of the left forearm and the left hand; and finally, the irregular lesions of the humeral distal and proximal tibia1 metaphyses reminded us radiologically of Wimberger's signs.The most probable diagnosis of all the lesions mentioned above is that of a precocious congenital syphilis. This case consists of an argument against the epidemiological theories about the migration of Treponema pallidurn from the New World back to the Old World starting at the end of the 15th century.

Au Bronze final II/IIIa, le site du Touar est implanté en bordure d'un marécage subpermanent, en relation avec des barrages travertineux développés sur le cours de l'Argens et dont les niveaux tourbeux sont datés du Chalcolithique. L'habitat qui s'y implante est saisonnier. Les ressources alimentaires de ce groupe humain sont principalement liées à la chasse et à l'élevage, les terres exploitées étant encore de superficie restreinte. La datation C14, après correction dendrochronologique, est de 1400-1030 av. J.-C. Ultérieurement, des apports détritiques remblaient le marécage qui transgresse ; le site n'est plus habité mais toujours utilisé. Au premier Age du fer, le milieu est plus sec et l'habitat devient permanent. La vie pastorale est alors mieux organisée mais c'est l'agriculture qui est désormais dominante dans l'alimentation. L'augmentation des volumes de céréales à stocker se traduit par l'apparition de grands récipients de réserve et cela antérieurement aux sollicitations économiques du monde méditerranéen. Le site est abandonné au début du Ve s. av. n. è.

The geographic area of the Permian depression, the Massif des Maures and the Estérel is heterogeneous. During the Iron Age human implantation basically corresponds to local circumstances. The fortified hill-top habitat remains the principal dwelling place and is no longer occupied after the years 30/20 B. C. It has never been possible to study the internal arrangement of this habitat exhaustively. Non-fortified hill-top habitats are rare. The settlements in the plain, at the foot of a hill, on the slope or on the plateau are always open and exist during practically the entire Iron Age. Those in the plain develop particularly during the Ist century B.C. in the shape of hamlets, when the hill-top habitats are abandoned. Caves are not much used. There are few indigenous places of worship and few cremation tombs. During the entire Iron Age the region studied presents a cultural continuity, an undeniable archaism and a tendency to marginalization.

An emergency excavation in 1984 has allowed the investigations of part of the remains of the pars rustica of a villa from the first half of the Ist c. A.D. (stage 2), built on earlier remains from the second half the Ist c. B.C. (stage 1 : doubtless wood buildings). A basin, a canal, tanks lined with masonry and a circular kiln belonging to stage 2 are all part of the usual equipment of a villa and suggest the probability of oil production. These structures are abandoned early in the IIId c. A.D. and serve from then on as a rubbish dump to the end of the IVth c. A.D. (stage 3)- The villa itself appears to have been abandoned early in the Vth c. A.D., while a limited use of the site continued until the VIth c. A.D. The authors present the different categories of pottery and coins from each stage. A very detailed study of the fauna from the rubbish dumps of stage 3 allows some understanding of the socio-economical characteristics of this villa and its domain : vast cultivables areas, diversity of arable lands, breeding of mostly big cattle, consumption of high quality meat and an important contribution made by hunting, which suggests the leisure activities of a privileged social class.

La fouille de cet établissement rural met en évidence une continuité d'occupation du Ier s. av. J.-C. au VIIe s. ap. J.-C. La phase I représente un établissement indigène daté des trois premiers quarts du Ier s. av. J.-C. Dans la phase II, du dernier quart du Ier s. av. J.-C. jusque vers 80/90 ap. J.-C, une ferme romaine s'installe. La phase III, des dernières décennies du Ier s. jusqu'au milieu du siècle suivant, est celle d'une villa résidentielle. La phase IV, de la deuxième moitié du IIe s. à la fin du Ve s., est marquée par une reconversion agricole de grande ampleur avec productions vinicole, oléicole et moulin hydraulique. Lors de la phase V, du VIe s. à la deuxième moitié du VIIe s., l'exploitation est axé sur l'élevage. Une réoccupation médiévale ponctuelle (phase VI) est liée au prieuré bénédictin Saint-Martin voisin. Chacune des phases est replacée dans le schéma local de l'évolution de l'occupation des sols.