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A Gallic village in northern Aquitaine

On line since September 19, 2009 · Updated September 19, 2009
At the junction of the territories of the Bituriges Vivisques, the Pétrucores and the Nitiobroges, prospered a village of Gallic artisans and merchants.

The site

The Lacoste site was discovered in 1954 in the small village of Mouliets-et-Villemartin in the Gironde department. A multitude of Celtic and Roman objects, dating variously from the 4th century BC to the 2nd century AD, were collected during fieldwalking. Over several archaeological excavation seasons, archaeologists were able to identify a settlement and a pottery workshop attributed to the Second Iron Age (450 to -50 BC).

Between August 2007 and April 2008, the projected laying of a gas pipeline allowed an Inrap team to excavate an area 800 m long and 10 m wide, and thus to contribute to our knowledge of this site and its organization.

A well organized village

The site extends over approximately thirty hectares in the lower Dordogne valley. This unfortified site is near the intersection of several roads and of the territories of several Northern Aquitaine peoples: the Pétrucores, the Nitiobroges and the Bituriges Vivisques.

Quarters devoted to the production of manufactured objects, including pottery, iron and bronze workshops, were created around a village covering 4 to 5 hectares. A network of small ditches, aligned north-south and east-west clearly indicated well-ordered land division, probably agricultural in nature.

The settlement and the workshops

The gravel floors of the houses were covered with wood that has since disappeared. The walls, made of earth and wood, were supported on wooden footings. Outside, there are numerous middens (containing potsherds, animal bones, etc.) and hearths composed of clay slabs on crushed potsherds.

Ironworking is the principal craft activity identified at Lacoste. As well as a lot of slag, numerous unfinished objects were collected during the excavations, as was an iron bar. Bronze workshops were identified through the presence of crucible fragments and cast metal and droplets. There are also some indications of glassworking.

The archaeological finds

Abundant archaeological artifacts were found during these excavations. They include several tons of pottery discovered in the houses and several hundred iron objects in the iron workshop. Numerous everyday objects were also found, including Celtic ornaments in metal, glass, amber and lignite.

Lacoste, a city-market

This excavation is discovering significant information concerning a still poorly known category of sites.

Lacoste was at the junction of the territories of the Bituriges Vivisques (in Gironde, near Bordeaux), the Pétrucores (in Dordogne, near Perigueux) and the Nitiobroges (in Lot et Garonne, near Agen).

The prosperity of this small town was essentially based on a society that developed, as early as the 3rd century BC, an economy based on mass production, commerce and trade, sometimes over long distances.

See images

  • Aerial view of the site showing the first part of the area being investigated (linear excavation at the centre of the photograph).
    Aerial view of the site showing the first part of the area being investigated (linear excavation at the centre of the photograph).
    © F. Didierjean, Ausonius
  • Location of Lacoste on a map of Gallic peoples in Aquitaine.
    Location of Lacoste on a map of Gallic peoples in Aquitaine.
    © C. Sireix, Inrap
  • Excavation of the settlement (under a protective shelter).
    Excavation of the settlement (under a protective shelter).
    © O. Dayrens, Inrap
  • Excavation of the gravel floor of a Gallic house.
    © O. Dayrens, Inrap
  • Hearth. A clay layer covers a base made of pot sherds.
    Hearth. A clay layer covers a base made of pot sherds.
    © W. O’yl, Inrap
  • Fragment of perforated bronze sheet. Two Gallic warriors are fighting, one is wearing a breastplate.
    Fragment of perforated bronze sheet. Two Gallic warriors are fighting, one is wearing a breastplate.
    © P. Ernaux, Inrap
  • Decorated bracelet dated to the second half of the 3rd century BC.
    Decorated bracelet dated to the second half of the 3rd century BC.
    © P. Ernaux, Inrap
  • Restored iron Celtic fibula, dated to the 4th century BC.
    Restored iron Celtic fibula, dated to the 4th century BC.
    © P. Ernaux, Inrap
  • Restoration of a bronze plaque in the restoration laboratory of the Musée d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux.
    Restoration of a bronze plaque in the restoration laboratory of the Musée d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux.
    © P. Ernaux, Inrap
  • An iron fibula being restored in the laboratory of the Musée d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux.
    An iron fibula being restored in the laboratory of the Musée d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux.
    © P. Ernaux, Inrap