dAf 96
MARCIGNY Cyril, GHESQUIERE Emmanuel
L'île de Tatihou (Manche) à l'âge du Bronze
Habitats et occupation du sol
Tatihou, an island of the east coast of the Cotentin, recognised as a major natural, heritage and archaeological site, is being upgraded by the Manche county council. Since 1992, a maritime museum, a research centre and a seabird reserve have been established. It is against this background that preventive archaeology was undertaken . from 1996 until 1998, and the highly exciting results are contained within this volume. Tatihou is now considered to be one of the major reference sites for the early and middle Bronze Age in the west of France, particularly because of the field organisation underscored by a network of ditches which criss-cross at right-angles.
Abstract
Abstract
1 Introduction
The island of Tatihou lies off Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue on the north-east coast of the Manche department in Lower Normandy. It covers an area of twenty hectares. Before excavations were carried out between 1996 and 1998, prehistoric and protohistoric occupation there were virtually unknown, the most striking evidence being of late military origin, from the 16th c. onwards. In June 1996, a watching brief, during the machining off of a garden, brought to light a Bronze Age occupation. A more detailed study, comprising trenches dug across the entire menaced area, was undertaken in July of the same year. This was followed, from the 19th of August until the 31st of October, by a rescue excavation involving more than ten volunteer and professional excavators. The complex history of the site clearly extended beyond the Bronze Age, since there were traces of later occupations (late La Tène /early Roman, and modern). As a result, it was decided to test the archaeological potential of as much of the island as possible so as to have an overview of the complete site and possibly confirm ideas advanced in the 1996 excavation report.
2 Geography
Tatihou can be reached on foot at low tide (it is about 1 km from the mainland). Fairly flat, it reaches 5 m at its highest point. Geologically speaking, the Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue area is part of the Armorican massif. It stands on sedimentary deposits, both proterozoic and palaeozoic, ranging from the Brioverian to the Devonian. To the south-east (Tatihou and La Hougue) the magmatic granite bedrock (variscan, known as Barfleur granite) is flat but reaches a height of 6 m NGF. Lower down, the Val de Saire area corresponds to an old marine abrasion surface which developed in the quaternary period on the granite bedrock. Traces of former interglacial levels, alternating with silts and solifluxion from the glacial periods, are intermittently preserved. The Tatihou observations show that the Eemien level is here slightly lower than other geological observations in the Cotentin had suggested. It is probably a depressed area, more or less subject to subsidence, which would explain the relatively weak erosion observable.
3 The Bronze Age occupation
The Bronze Age occupation is indicated by the presence of numerous features (ditches, silos, kilns & ovens). Features dating from this period are to be found on the entire island, but only the clos du lazaret was extensively studied in 1996, and this over a 2,5 hectare area.
It is principally this work which is discussed in this volume. Information gained from test pits dug in 1997 and 1998 is only touched on briefly except for that concerning enclosures which, because of their exceptional nature, receive detailed treatment.
The ditches, whose layout underpins the spatial organisation of the area, were given particular attention during the excavations. Corresponding to at least three construction phases, they outline a network of areas which seems to end at a group of three parallel ditches. The ditches seems to delimit and fortify an area of under 10 hectares corresponding today to the western part of the island.
Several buildings, whose plans are easily identifiable, were found.
They were not contemporaneous but belonged to successive Bronze Age occupation phases (phases 1 to 3)
Six ovens or kilns (of both raised and sunken types) were discovered.
They were all inserted at the angles of the areas defined by the ditches and dug into the compact ditch backfill.
Finally, during the 1997 and 1998 excavations, to the north and east of the clos du Lazaret, a total of seven small circular or rectangular enclosures, probably related to mortuary rites, were found. Two of these features were completely excavated.
4 The Finds
The accent of the post-excavation study was put on material found during the excavation of the clos du lazaret in 1996. Occasionally, though in a less detailed way, finds from the 1997 and 1998 excavations are mentioned.
In this chapter, the ceramics are studied (petrographically, technologically and typologically), as are loom weights, spindle-whorls, worked flints, stone tools and grinding apparatus.
The high quality of the ceramic and the lithic finds from Tatihou completely renew the regional, and general western French, Bronze Age corpus.
The early and middle Bronze Age series strongly resemble material from the north of France and the United Kingdom. Post-excavation analysis concentrated on the lithic material because of the rarity of such analysis for the Bronze Age. For the first time in the west of France, this site has incited extensive research on an industry which seems to have had considerable importance, judging by the frequency of occurrence of the finds.
One of the most important results of this work is the establishment of parallels with early and middle Bronze Age material from England, both ceramic and lithic, similar to that already established with the north of France, the Aisne valley and Brittany.
5 Environmental archaeology
Normally, the results from environmental archaeology add substance to our view of economic life and living conditions. However, at Tatihou, the results are limited and of unequal quality, principally because of the sampling conditions. Features were not systematically sampled, easily visible material being selected in difficult circumstances. Charcoal and seeds in the samples were studied. Pollen analysis, though begun, was abandoned given the lack of results. Rather than give a true image of the site and its environment, the analysis has only provided a few snapshots of occupation activity.
6 Conclusion
The Tatihou results and their implications are multiple. The almost complete absence of modern farming and consequent good site preservation has facilitated a broad archaeological approach.
The synthesis of these important discoveries makes it easy to appreciate the site both regionally and on a larger canvas. The archaeological, economic, and social results are the first of their kind in north-west France. The beginning of the organisation of the countryside, in particular of a coherent field system, one thousand years before widespread agriculture began during the late Iron Age, can be explained by the interaction between societies and their environment.
