The project "In the footsteps of the last hunter-gatherers of Île-de-France", coordinated and piloted by the DRAC, aims to federate and enhance the exceptional prehistoric sites bordering the Seine, in Essonne and Seine-et-LoireMarne: these sites offer an invaluable testimony on the life of the last hunter-gatherers of the Magdalenian era. Through this project, the DRAC Île-de-France pursues three objectives: preserve these exceptional deposits, consolidate the work of researchers, and enhance this heritage to a wide audience as part of a cultural project of territory built in partnership. |
An exceptional archaeological heritage
Île-de-France has an exceptional cultural asset, thanks to a unique set of archaeological sites testifying to the last hunter-gatherer populations that inhabited our region towards the end of the last glaciation, about 12,000 years ago.
If these sites benefit from an international reputation among specialists, their valorization among the public requires the implementation of an ambitious cultural project that will give the Île-de-France the reputation it deserves: that of a large prehistoric region.
La Grande-Paroisse (77), Pincevent: 12,500 BP © dr
On the banks of the Seine, extraordinarily preserved by the deposits of the river, entire encampments were found as they were left by human groups from the end of the Palaeolithic, to the so-called "Magdalenian" period. They came there to hunt reindeer, horses, cut flint, lived there for a few seasons, exercised their technique and art, and taught them to their children. These sites seemed predestined for a vocation of transmission.
A river that the Seine could have looked like 15,000 years ago (left image) and La Seine seen from the archaeological site of Pincevent in 2020 © dr
Pincevent (c. -12 500), in the town of La Grande-Paroisse in Seine-et-Marne, is a unique site in the world. Threatened by the exploitation of a quarry, he was saved by the intervention of Minister André Malraux, and Professor André Leroi-Gourhan, founder of prehistoric ethnology in France, who with Michel Brézillon co-invented the open-air prehistoric excavation. The first moulding of an archaeological floor was made and presented in 1965 in a pioneering interpretation centre. Acquired by the State, the site is now protected as a historical monument.
Ormesson (77), Les Bossats, au Gravettien: a fauna dominated by bison © dr
Other open-air deposits have been discovered: in Seine-et-Marne, at Ormesson (c. -120,000 to -19,000) where the transition between Neanderthal and early Neanderthal populations can be monitored Homo sapiens ; in Essonne, at Tarterêts III in Corbeil-Essonnes (c. -22,000 to -14,500) or in Étiolles (c. -13,000 to -12,000), whose excavation yielded on an engraved pebble a representation of a horse that inspired the writer Jean Rouaud; while in the forests of southern Île-Saint-Jean-Rouaudde-France, in the chaos of sandstone, many ornate shelters present geometric drawings of Mesolithic (c. 8,000), as well as some figurative representations attributable to the Upper Palaeolithic, contemporary of Lascaux (c. 20,000). This rock art of the Paris Basin is rare and fragile and calls for a better public awareness of its preservation.
The engraved pebble of Etiolles © Photo and statement Gilles Tosello and Carole Fritz
A steering committee for a cultural project of territory
The Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Île-de-France, decentralized service of the Ministry of Culture, wished to gather, under the high patronage of Professor Yves Coppens, all the communities concerned by these exceptional deposits as well as the institutional partners already involved in research, conservation or recovery actions.
The steering committee and the scientific and cultural council of the project under the high patronage of Pr Yves Coppens © Laurent Rorurier: Drac Île-de-France
The purpose of this first meeting of October 6, 2020 is to constitute a steering committee that will be responsible for defining the orientations and objectives of a cultural project of territory able to value this exceptional Ile-de-France heritage to the public, while ensuring the preservation of this fragile resource and consolidating the work of research teams.
Whether they are sites located in urban areas or nearby (Les Tarterêts in Corbeil-Essonnes, Etiolles), in rural areas (Ormesson, Pincevent) or in sectors already heavily frequented by visitors (Fontainebleau massif), each component of this project is part of the same chronological framework (Prehistory) and in the same dynamic that it is now appropriate to structure by also relying on two partner museums (the Musée d'Archéologie nationale in Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the Musée départemental de Préhistoire in Île-de-France in Nemours) and by offering mediation structures for the public and schools as well as discovery trails.
Corbeil-essonnes (91), les Tarterêts III © photo Hamid Azmoun/ Inrap
Many mediation actions have already been carried out and confirm the growing interest of the public for this heritage that invites us to discover the first settlements of our region.
As part of this project, experiments are also underway to develop digital tools to help visitors and knowledge.
Similarly, many artistic and cultural education actions (EAC) are implemented according to the themes offered by archaeology and prehistory: migrations, mobilities of prehistoric populations, climate change and impacts on the behaviour of human groups, etc. Nearly 10,000 people have already been affected by the actions of EAC and mediation on this project in 2018-2019.
Étiolles (91), Les Coudray. Since 1972: 47 excavation campaigns, 3 generations of researchers closely linked to the University of Paris 1, + 1,700 student-trainees from around the world on this project Ile-de-France school © dr
Ultimately, the networking of these different exceptional sites and deposits should make it possible to offer a new cultural offer, outside the metropolis of Greater Paris, a route that is naturally organized along a south-east – north-west axis by following the course of the Seine River.
A scientific and cultural council under the authority of Prof. Yves Coppens
Following the steering committee, a scientific and cultural council, under the authority of Professor Yves Coppens, was set up on 6 October afternoon.
About twenty scientists or specialists in issues related to research, conservation or heritage enhancement will contribute their expertise and propose to the steering committee guidelines in the fields of conservation, of valorisation or research.
Corbeil-essonnes (91), Les Tarterêts III, a Magdalenian level including a reindeer bone dated 14,520 BP © photo Cécile Ollivier-Alibert
Archaeologists, specialists in prehistory, academics, researchers at the CNRS, curators, specialists in parietal art, cultural mediation, environment, or museums will thus make their contribution to this cultural project that will require, from 2021, the commitment of a feasibility study at the scale of all the sites concerned.
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