Archeology
Various operations or valuation actions are likely to be subsidized by the regional archaeological service.
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- Development of the archaeological heritage
- Zones of presumption of archaeological limitation (ZPPA)
- Declaration of accidental archaeological discovery
- Archaeological Operations 2024 : application files
- Grant application file (associations, communities, public institutions, companies, individual entrepreneurs)
- Archaeological Documentation Centre
- Contacts
Development of the archaeological heritage
The State participates in the development of the archaeological heritage in Brittany, with more than 20,000 sites. As such, the DRAC supports excavations and restorations of archaeological sites to contribute to their development and especially for their presentation to the public.
Among the regions rich in megalithic remains, Brittany occupies a privileged place. It shelters, in fact, some of the highest places of Prehistory with, in particular, the singular sector of the Gulf of Morbihan and the bay of Quiberon covered with thousands of erect stones, dolmens and tumulus.
However, only the «alignments» of Carnac associated with the great tumulus of Mont Saint-Michel appear on the national indicative list since September 20, 1996. This is why the commitments of the services of the DRAC of Brittany, in partnership with the communities (gathered within the association "Paysages de Mégalithes"), are moving towards a project of territory extended to the megalithic heritage of 27 municipalities aimed at preserving the architectural and environmental coherence of sets of megalithic monuments.
To this end, a file of extension and confirmation of the application for inclusion on the indicative list of megaliths of Carnac and the banks of the Morbihan, file validated by a scientific committee chaired by Yves Coppens, was deposited in December 2016 to the Ministry of Culture and Communication for a review by the Committee of French Heritage in World Heritage who appointed three rapporteurs, experts on these issues: Olivier Poisson, Inspector General of Heritage, Anne Vourc'h, Director of the Grands Sites de France network and Mr. Grégory Quenet, university professor, specialist in the history of the environment.
Once this stage has been reached, the National Committee of the French World Heritage Properties, on the proposal of the Ministries, examines and validates the nominations in three distinct stages (hearing the project proponents):
- Review of the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value, the criteria used to justify it, and the comparative analysis elements that will be included in the nomination package;
- Examination of the declaration of authenticity and integrity, as well as the description of the property, its delimitation and that of its buffer zone;
- Review and validation of the proposed management plan, and the entire dossier, and propose to the government whether or not to file it with UNESCO.
On 10 October 2017, a delegation composed of representatives of the Association Paysages de Mégalithes, the scientific committee and the DRAC de Bretagne appeared before the National Committee of French World Heritage properties to present the attributes, the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (DVUE) and the comparative analysis of the dossier.
Several attributes have been identified in the organization of the Property to derive an Outstanding Universal Value from the megaliths located on the banks of the Morbihan:
- presence of stele structures: geometric organization of upright monoliths up to 21 metres and 330 tonnes;
- presence of tombs: these are individual graves or graves with corridors intended for several people;
- presence of rock art: symbolic representation of objects, animals and humans;
- presence of depositions: these are deposits of sign objects staged in tombs or buried in key points of the landscape;
- these monuments are located in a coastal landscape and distributed around a closed body of water, the «small sea» ( Mor Bihan ), delimited by the peninsula of Quiberon and the islands of Houat and Hoedic.
These five attributes overlap and interact together to form the Good.
On the basis of these attributes, three criteria were chosen to affirm the universal and outstanding value of the megaliths of Carnac and the banks of the Morbihan among the ten selection criteria defined by UNESCO:
- Criterion I: represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;
- Criterion II: demonstrate a considerable exchange of influences over a given period;
- Criterion IV: an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble illustrating one or more significant periods in human history.
Following this hearing and the report of the experts, the National Committee of French World Heritage Properties (CNBFPM) has validated the Universal and Outstanding Value of the property and expressed its support for the continuation of the work for the submission of this application.
In 2020, a landscape study conducted throughout the territory candidate for inscription on the list was decisive in preparing the second hearing before the French World Heritage Committee, which made it possible to define the perimeter of the property and buffer zones.
The project entered a new phase in 2021, that of the management plan. This strategic and operational document will be developed by all the actors of the territory of the perimeter concerned. The management plan is a major document in the UNESCO dossier that engages all stakeholders. It is embodied in a Charter of Commitment.
After an inventory and a publication, the valorisation of the archaeological heritage of the Pays Centre Ouest Bretagne begins.
Following a field phase carried out by Alain Provost between 2002 and 2009, which made it possible to increase the number of known sites by more than 50% in this territory of 108 municipalities, then the writing of a book published in spring 2015 summarizing the main contributions of knowledge on the occupation of this territory since the Mesolithic, the third and last stage of this program was initiated in autumn 2015.
Oriented towards the development of this rich archaeological heritage, it is divided into three parts:
- The establishment of 10 recovery circuits that will allow the networking of more than 80 archaeological sites;
- The development of a website organized around inventory data and methods used to achieve this (pedestrian, aerial, Lidar, archival studies...). Its purpose is to perpetuate this heritage information, allow its restitution to the general public (local population, schools and visitors), and emphasize the way an inventory of archaeological sites is constituted. Structured around the geobretagne platform, it benefits from its cartographic collections, offers a spatial representation of the inventory that can be updated as knowledge is enriched by exports from the national base;
- The creation of a travelling exhibition to be hosted by the municipalities of the West Central Brittany (town halls, trade unions, schools). Essentially digital, and intended primarily for the school public, its content is a variation of that of the website.
These three components are keys to access the archaeological heritage of Central Brittany articulated together. The panneautage of the sites highlighted in the field will have flash codes to switch to the website and have additional information to that present in the field. Similarly, from the website, it will be possible to prepare your visit by downloading documents and crossing the route of the circuits of valorization with the routes of hiking or equestrian.
The exhibition and the website were inaugurated in July 2016 in Huelgoat (Finistère), the implementation of the recovery circuits must be spread over ten years. The first was entitled "Forests of Huelgoat-Poullaouen and Fréau".
The mediation among the young public in the field of heritage, and in that of archaeology in particular, seems less developed. Therefore, the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) of Brittany wanted to have an inventory of actors, practices and resources to encourage initiatives toarts and cultural education (EAC) in the field of archaeology:
The study, whose presentation brought together archaeologists, researchers, mediators and Breton teachers in Monteneuf (Morbihan) on February 3, 2023, is unprecedented in Brittany and exceptional on the national territory.
Archaeological Presumption Zones (APMA)
The Heritage Code provides for the possibility of establishing, common by municipality, areas in which specific provisions, specific to each of them and specified in a prefectural decree, apply.
These so-called "presumptive archaeological prescription" zones complete the general scheme by refining it.
In these zones, the regional prefect must enter:
- All permits to construct, develop, demolish, as well as decisions to establish a concerted development zone;
- Or of these same files "when they concern rights of way on the ground above a threshold defined by the zoning order".
Definition
A ZPPA is not a planning easement. It allows the State, as in the general system, to take into account by a scientific study or a possible conservation "the elements of the archaeological heritage affected or likely to be affected by public or private works contributing to the development". Consequently, the State may within the time limits fixed by the law formulate, in a decree, a prescription of archaeological diagnosis, archaeological excavation or indication of modification of the consistency of the project. This decision will be taken by 'reconciling the respective demands of scientific research, heritage conservation and economic and social development'.
The Heritage Code also provides that any person planning to carry out development may, before filing an application for authorization, refer to the regional prefect for examination whether the project is likely to give rise to archaeological requirements (Book V, Article L. 522-4).
Delimitation of MPAs
The delimitation of MPAs is based on a compilation of the archaeological map data. This is based on a diachronic approach (from ancient prehistory to modern times) and with the collaboration of regional research stakeholders (INRAP, CNRS, universities, community services, volunteer associations). The information gathered from surveys or excavations is mapped at the scale of the IGN map at 1/25,000 or the cadastre. The zones of presumption of archaeological prescription take into account the orientations of the national programming adopted by the National Archaeological Research Council, the current state of knowledge, regional programming and are "determined by order of the Regional Prefect after the opinion of the Interregional Commission for Archaeological Research". From this point of view, the zones of presumption of archaeological prescription can integrate sectors of the territory considered as having high archaeological potential even if for the moment no vestige is proved. Finally, the delimitation of zones of presumption of archaeological prescription may be consistent with other procedures that also contribute to the protection of heritage and sites (ZPPAUP, AVAP, protected areas, sites classified or registered as historic monuments, etc.).
Implementation and procedure
The decrees are transmitted to the prefects of departments and published in the Collection of Administrative Acts. They are also notified to the municipalities concerned.
The refinement of the general system is progressing continuously: new municipalities are under study and will soon be the subject of a prefectural decree; in the same way, zones of presumption of archaeological prescription already established are likely to be modified, in support of new discoveries and research results; the drafting of a new prefectural decree is then necessary.
The geographical data (orders and lists of zones) relating to the presumed archaeological prescription zones of the region are viewable and downloadable on the website GeoBretagne.
Declaration of accidental archaeological discovery
Archaeological Operations 2024: Application Files
Help Guide for completing the application package and rendering reports:
Access to the field:
Report Upload Authorization:
Request for analysis funding:
Excavation site open to volunteers:
Support for the publication and dissemination of archaeological research (SPDRA):
Plan to submit your grant application the year before your project is N-1. For example, to have a grant in 2024, file in 2023 (before November 30).
Grant application (associations, communities, public institutions, companies, individual entrepreneurs)
Associations
Procedure developed by the Direction interministérielle de la transformation publique (DITP): this document is intended to help applicants complete the Cerfa form no. 12156*06.
Grant Financial Report: Cerfa 15059*02
It allows an association to submit a grant application to a state administration. It can also be accepted by town halls, general or regional councils, local public institutions. It requires the prior possession of a SIRET number.
See also:
- model multi-annual agreement of objectives with an association [Form]
- simplified model of multi-annual objectives agreement with an association [Form]
- request SIREN and SIRET numbers as a subsidized association [Form letter]
Local authorities, public institutions, companies, individual entrepreneurs
Contacts:
Yves Ménez, Head of Department - 02 99 84 59 00
Elena Paillet - Curator, Assistant to the Regional Curator of Archaeology
Marie-Françoise Guillemois, assistant, secretariat of the CTRA - 02 99 84 59 16
Georges Rumeau, assistant (reception and secretariat) - 02 99 84 59 00
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