Operation: Preventive excavation
Excavation period: 4th June – 11th July 2008
Excavation directed by: Guillaume DEMEURE
Developer:Ataraxia

This operation was carried out from 4th June to 11th July 2008 on the island of Yves, Charentes-Maritimes, France, following plans to construct a housing estate. The 4,000m² site revealed three occupational phases which will be defined more precisely during post-excavation analysis.

The first occupation phase extends over two thirds of the site and essentially consists of an open sand quarry. Its north, south and western limits have been identified but towards the east it appears to extend beyond the excavation area. The use of three separate methods of extraction was recognised: linear, circular and polylobed cuts. This quarry was active until the 10th century. Then the quarrying activities came to an end and the site was divided into several parcels of land delineated by “V”-shaped ditches which punctually truncate the silty filling of the quarry.
Shortly following this division of the site began a settlement phase, consisting of three buildings plus an underground oven. All revealed a form of low, above-ground, stone wall foundation system, upon which less consequent, often perishable wall material would have been placed. Although for two of these buildings this type of exposed foundation took the form of well-built walls and regular stonework, the third seems to have been constructed far less carefully. Similarly to the quarry, two of these buildings are situated partly in the parcel of land next to the excavation area, which may indicate that there are numerous archaeological remains still unfound there. The third building was entirely excavated, within which was found a door and a well-fitted oven.
Several garbage dumps, waste spreading pits (rich in malacofauna) and silos (pits used for the storage of food products) are situated all around this area. The artifacts collected seem to indicate these structures date from the 10th-11th century.
During the last period studied, the site lost its residential function and a number of large pits were dug around the southern limit of the excavation site; this may be due to the renewal of quarrying activities. The backfilling of these pits contains artifacts dating from the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th century (ceramic analysis will enable more precise dating).
Notably, flints found in the alluvium confirm the presence of a human occupation in the region as early as prehistory. Three evaluation pits in the geological layers should help us understand the genesis of this fossil island.