The Allones field evaluation
On line since July 20, 2009 · Updated September 21, 2009
A field evaluation has been underway since January 2009 in advance of the construction of a bypass around the communes of Allonnes and Prunay-le-Gillon in the Eure-et-Loir. The evaluation is in two parts. The first is at the location of proposed civil engineering work (18 hectares in total) and the second is the site of the road itself, a surface of about 50 hectares. A medieval cemetery has been discovered.
Defining the limits and nature of the discoveries
The method used for the evaluation at Allones and Prunay-le-Gillon is the one most frequently employed in rural contexts. It consists of an organized exploration that allows archaeologists to determine the presence or absence of archaeological remains. The topsoil is removed by excavating parallel and regularly spaced linear trenches with a mechanical shovel equipped with a 2.5 m wide straight-edged bucket. The trenches represent a sample of approximately 10% of the surface concerned by the project. If something is discovered, the area is enlarged by hand or by machine and the structures are at least partially excavated. The objective is to define the spatial limits of the discoveries and determine their nature, age and state of preservation.
Deep test pits were dug into the Pleistocene silts in order to search for Palaeolithic sites and relevant archives were consulted so as to acquire information about the medieval occupation.
Deep test pits were dug into the Pleistocene silts in order to search for Palaeolithic sites and relevant archives were consulted so as to acquire information about the medieval occupation.
"Barbarian” invaders
A large medieval cemetery was discovered during the first phase of the evaluation. It is next to a 12th century church a short distance from the village of Allones. Past discoveries indicate that this village was built over a Roman town. Based on the 400 burials recorded in the trenches, we can estimate that there are 3,500 tombs over the entire surface to be covered by the bypass.
The first inhumations seem to date to the 4th to 5th centuries. The north-south orientation of the graves indicates the presence of the last non-Christian Gallo-Roman communities or one of the peoples that occupied the region during the the 5th century invasions (Alans, Huns, etc.).
Starting in the 6th century, the presence of only east-west oriented graves is evidence of Christian rituals. From this time on, the cemetery becomes larger and more dense. The last burials are attributed to the 10th century. From the 12th century until the present, the cemetery seems to have been limited to a designated space near the church.
The second phase of the evaluation has confirmed the high archaeological potential of the Beauceron plateau and the area around the road that runs from Chartres to Orléans, since the 2nd century BC at least. Eighteen archaeological sites, extending from the Neolithic to the beginning of the Middle Ages, of which three are exceptional, have been discovered.
The first inhumations seem to date to the 4th to 5th centuries. The north-south orientation of the graves indicates the presence of the last non-Christian Gallo-Roman communities or one of the peoples that occupied the region during the the 5th century invasions (Alans, Huns, etc.).
Starting in the 6th century, the presence of only east-west oriented graves is evidence of Christian rituals. From this time on, the cemetery becomes larger and more dense. The last burials are attributed to the 10th century. From the 12th century until the present, the cemetery seems to have been limited to a designated space near the church.
The second phase of the evaluation has confirmed the high archaeological potential of the Beauceron plateau and the area around the road that runs from Chartres to Orléans, since the 2nd century BC at least. Eighteen archaeological sites, extending from the Neolithic to the beginning of the Middle Ages, of which three are exceptional, have been discovered.
Developer:
Regional Public Works Department
Site directors:
Grégoire Bailleux and Marie-France Creusillet
Curation:
Regional Archaeology Service (Drac Centre)
Grégoire Bailleux, site director