dAf 58
MENEZ Yves
Une ferme de l'Armorique gauloise.
Le Boisanne à Plouër-sur-Rance (Côtes-d'Armor)
Discovered during the construction of a four-lane trunk road (N 176) near Dinan, the Iron Age farm at Le Boisanne is but a modest rural settlement ; it constituted however an ideal subject of study. One can follow without interruption its evolution during a very long period, from the 4th century BC up to the 3rd century AD. The stratigraphy, the structures and the artefacts are presented in detail. The farm is placed in its context, both geographical (the Rance estuary) and historic (Armorican Iron Age). This study is concluded by a broad reflection, extending outside the purely regional framework : on the function and evolution of “native farms" or aedificia (archaeological myth or reality ?) of the Iron Age and gallo-roman periods.
Abstract
Abstract
1. The excavation
The Boisanne site was discovered in 1987 as a result of earth moving operations during the construction of a four-lane trunk road. This discovery was followed immediately by a rescue excavation, the settlement being further excavated in 1988 and 1989 as a research project which permitted an area of 11 200 m2 to be studied. Now common on eroded sites, the technique of large scale open area excavation was used which enabled the detailed study by trail trenching or excavation to be carried out on the fillings of the different features which appeared, building foundations or of structures situated nearby.
2. The structures
In the absence of clearly defined features and stratification, it was decided to dissociate artefact analysis from that of the structures discovered. The latter comprises successively, for the settlement, the presentation of the ditches that delimit the enclosures, followed by that of post-holes, pond or souterrain. The study of the surrounding environment takes into account trackways and a funerary enclosure, contemporary with the settlement, gallo-roman quarries as well as an area which delivered a high number of pipe-clay statuettes. These objects, representing Venus and déesse-mère figurines, are probably ex-voto, which allows the hypothesis to advance the suggestion of the presence of a modest sanctuary nearly totally destroyed by deep ploughing.
3. The artefacts
The presentation of the artefacts starts by an examination of the processes by which the archaeological deposits were formed, necessary if one is to understand the representativity of each group recovered during excavation. The method of analysis chosen privileges the spatial distribution of the artefacts or the sediments. The study of 9028 sherds of ceramic has produced a series of phases which reflects the progressive growth of the settlement, already noted as a result of the excavation of the ditches. The rare non-ceramic artefacts comprise principally a small number of iron and bronze objects, glass or shale bracelets and several stone querns. The analysis of bone remains, regardless of the limited sample studied due to acid soil conditions of Armorica, permits the .fauna consumed on the site to be recognised. Analysis of charcoal and pollen remains, coupled with sedimentological and micromorphological studies, confirms the interpretation of several features and outlines the landscape evolution around the farm.
4. Birth and evolution of the agricultural complex
The synthesis of the totality of the evidence has enabled the reconstruction of the principal phases of the history of this settlement between the 4th to 1st centuries BC, a period within which the agricultural settlement, very modest in the beginning, becomes a large farm comprising several enclosures successively linked. The study of the site environment is outlined, but it does not permit a convincing reply to be given to questions concerning the localisation and the structure of the estate of the agricultural settlement to be given.
5. Conclusion
At the end of this study it has been necessary to reopen the file concerning aedificia, or "native farms" by questioning the nature of these settlements, their primary function and the status of their owners. The question of the continuation of these agricultural exploitations after the Roman conquest is equally approached. The few lines of research opened up from earlier publications, while rare and disparate, have not only permitted the excavator to go beyond the simple site monograph, but also to reframe the evidence from the Boisanne excavations within a much wider programme of research: that of the organisation of the landscape during the second period of the Iron Age.
