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An unusual Protohistoric occupation at Ancenis in the Loire-Atlantique

On line since September 19, 2009 · Updated September 19, 2009
At the site of a future business park, archaeologists have been excavating, since 2007, a 2.5 hectare zone near the Grée and Loire marshland. In this sector, well adapted to human occupation, they have discovered structures built on stone ridges overlooking a thalweg.


A Bronze Age occupation

These houses, dated to the Middle Bronze Age (approximately 1500-1200 BC), are rectangular in plan and aligned east/west. Fifteen to twenty metres long and six to seven metres broad, the houses are entered from the east and have an apse to the west. Inside, certain elements suggest the presence of a floor and partitions. This type of habitat is rare in western France and until now was more common to the north and east and in areas of Anglo-Saxon dominance. Near the houses, a schist quarry, intermittently exploited ever since this period, was discovered on the stone ridges bordering the thalweg.

A rural Gallic occupation

The sector was also occupied at the end of the Iron Age (around the 3rd century BC). The remains of this period comprise a trapezoidal enclosure covering a little more than half a hectare and surrounded by ditches indicating an organized habitat. Outside there are other buildings. Many protohistoric artifacts were found along a roughly paved path leading to the thalweg. On the periphery of these ensembles, the presence of several roads as well as land boundaries reveal how the Protohistoric landscape was organized.


Construction

Communauté de communes of the Pays d'Ancenis (COMPA)

Curation

Regional Archaeology Service (Drac Pays de la Loire)

Site director

Yann Viau, Inrap

See images

  • Traces of a building with an apse on posts, dated to the Middle Bronze Age (around 1500-1200 BC).
    © Y. Viau, Inrap
  • Close-up of the remains of one of the two Bronze Age buildings.
    Close-up of the remains of one of the two Bronze Age buildings.
    © Y. Viau, Inrap
  • Areal view of a Bronze Age building.
    Areal view of a Bronze Age building.
    © H. Paitier, Inrap
  • Areal photograph of a building dated to the end of the Bronze Age (around the 3rd century BC). The stone pavements on the ground delimit the plan of the building.
    Areal photograph of a building dated to the end of the Bronze Age (around the 3rd century BC). The stone pavements on the ground delimit the plan of the building.
    © H. Paitier, Inrap
  • Iron Age remains to the north-east of the building, entirely excavated.
    Iron Age remains to the north-east of the building, entirely excavated.
    © Y. Viau, Inrap