The Asterix albums will need to be completely rewritten

FIGHTING with his bare fists, and massively outnumbered, France's cockiest Gaul, Asterix, led a brave rebellion against the Roman occupier.

Not only was his little village encircled by Julius Caesar's troops, it was up against an expanding empire — unequalled in the art of warfare and determined to civilise a backward people. Or so it was thought until now.

A discovery in central France has led to a significant reassessment of the Gauls, who were much more advanced than previously thought.

Rather than the random gatherings of rudimentary thatched huts illustrated in the Asterix books, first published in 1961, archaeologists now believe the Gauls lived in elegant buildings with tiled roofs, laid out in towns with public squares or forums.

They also crafted metalwork just as complex as anything produced by the Romans, even before the Roman invasion in 52BC.

The findings have been made at a dig in Corent, near Lyon, where archaeologists have uncovered what they believe is the palace of Vercingetorix, the last military leader of all Gaul.

After the Romans arrived, Vercingetorix, a prince who also appears in the Asterix volumes, was taken prisoner, held in a prison in Rome and garotted several years later to celebrate Caesar's triumph.

"What we have found here proves that the Gauls were much more civilised than we thought," said Matthieu Poux, the archaeology professor who is heading the dig.

"The Asterix albums will need to be completely rewritten, as they are based on the typical image of the Gauls which has been passed down through the centuries, one of a prehistoric man who lives in the forest."

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/09/02/1188671789787.html