For its early occupants, the sandy island discovered to the south of the site provided a well drained environment close to both a road and fresh water with abundant fish. The objects found there (pottery, flint, antler, bronze and iron objects) can be associated with occupations dating from the Early and Late Neolithic periods (-5,000 and -2,200), the Early Bronze Age (-1,800) and the First Iron Age (-800). Over a period of 4,000 years, the bank of the channel progressively shifted to the north.
At the end of the Gallic period (around 100 BC), structures on wooden posts with mud walls were built parallel to the river course. Located to the west of a village covering around 10 hectares, they are probably craft workshops or commercial installations related to the quay built along the bank.

The exceptionally well preserved quay consists of a revetment comprising oak posts supporting massive planks laid on their sides. The three metre gap between the bank and the revetment was backfilled with soil then probably covered by a floor, perhaps using planks.
The presence of numerous pieces of worked wood under the backfill suggests that there was a previous construction that had been completely dismantled. The conquest of Gaul by Cesar in 52 BC did not lead to the abandonment of the quay, which continued to be repaired for a time.
This quay and the buildings located on the bank indicate the loading of flat bottomed barges, which used the Marne as a route for the transport of merchandise.

During the 1st century AD, the site continued to be densely occupied despite the silting up of the river which eventually led to the abandonment of the quay. Terraces comprising low revetment walls maintaining the soil in place prevented the erosion of the bank. The river bed became a dump, as is shown by the abundant bone and ceramic finds discovered there.
The site, abandoned at the end of the 1st century, was not reoccupied until the Carolingian period when flimsy, probably agricultural, buildings appear. It was probably at this time that a series of stakes, aligned to best profit from the current, was driven into the riverbed. This was probably a system of wicker-trap fishing.
Abandoned again during the following century, the site was not reoccupied until the end of the 19th century.