Operation: Preventive Excavation
Excavation period: 30th June – 8th August 2008
Excavation directed by: Nicolas PEYNE
Developer:Agglomération montargoise

This operation follows an evaluation in January and February 2007 for the Communauté d'Agglomération of Montargis which was panning to construct a housing estate and associated public buildings on the site. During this evaluation two notable periods of human occupation were detected: one Roman, one medieval. The Service Régional de l'Archéologie (Regional Archaeological Service) of the Centre region subsequently ordered a rescue excavation of this 3300m² area, which was divided into two zones (1200 m² et 2100 m²).

The settlement along the bank of the river ‘Solin’, which dates back to the Early Empire, consisted of a small palisaded enclosure situated within a meander of the paleochannel which previously formed a part of the river ‘Loing’. This 18m² enclosure was delineated by a ditch and interrupted by an opening on the east side. On the south side of the enclosure is a group of intersecting features dating from the same period. The excavation of this enclosure enabled us to recover the entirety of the artefacts left there during the construction of the palisade building.
Finds, mostly ceramic and residual materials, were however limited in this sector. Ceramic found inside the enclosure are likely to have been left there intentionally. The other ceramic fragments are badly corroded although amphora fragments indicate that the palisade was built during the first half of the 1st century AD. There used to be many such palisaded worship enclosures in Gaul in the early Roman period.

Fifty meters away to the east a medieval storage area, including various cellars, was identified. Twelve ‘silos’ (human-made holes within the bedrock) and three cellars were excavated as well as four post holes forming a small building, perhaps a granary. All the features and buildings in the area seem to have served to store food supplies.
The ceramic found should provide considerable information regarding the chronology of the site and we will soon know more about these people’s diet and the species of animals and plants they used to produce thanks to carpological (the study of grains) and archaeozoological (the study of animal remains) analyses of specimens collected.