Champ Durand
The prehistoric enclosure Champ-Durand is an interrupted mine work ( French enceinte à fossé interrompu ) southeast of Nieul-sur-l'Autise in the extreme southeast of the Vendée department in France . The enclosure ( French enceinte ) originated in the Neolithic and was used until the early Bronze Age . It has been under monument protection as Monument historique since 1990 .
history
The enclosure was discovered in 1971 by Maurice Marsac (1938–1991) on satellite photos and excavated between 1975 and 1985 by Roger Joussaume (born 1938).
description
The triple enclosure, which delimits an almost round area with a diameter of about 250 m and a little less than 2.0 hectares in size, forms three sides of the settlement area. The fourth side in the south is delimited by the dry valley of Les Maléons .
The enclosure consists of three trenches at a distance of 15 to 20 m. Each trench consists of several depressions, separated by a dozen interruptions. The interruptions were possibly blocked by walls, others were entrances. The investigation of satellite photos made it possible in 2010, one of these interruptions, French "Pince de crabe" ("crab tongs") called to discover. The 1.5 km long trenches were dug with deer antler shovels, several of which were in trench # 1. The three trenches may not have been dug at the same time.
The trenches decrease in width and depth towards the outside. The inner, 5.0 to 7.0 m wide trench was dug 2.3 to 2.6 m deep into the limestone bedrock. The middle trench is on average 4.0 m wide and about 2.0 m deep. The outer trench is 3.0 m wide and 1.8 m deep. The current shape of the trenches does not match the original, as changes have led to the base being filled. The inner wall of the trenches was reinforced by walls made of stone blocks that were removed when the trenches were dug. These walls extend above the trenches to a height of 2.50 m to 3.0 m.
In the course of time, several modifications were made to the enclosure, which served various functional purposes. In the early Bronze Age palisades were built in the northern part .
- Champ Durand
Finds
Aside from a few scattered bones, human bones with fatal skull injuries were found in five areas at the bottom of the second trench. This small number of burials and the trauma suffered could have special significance - comparable to the discoveries made in nearby Châtelliers-de-Vieil-Auzay . The finds in the trenches also include polished axes , some of which came from the dolerite quarry of Plussulien , pierced arrowheads (with fins and stems) and flint daggers , truncated cone-shaped vases, ceramics typical of the bell-cup culture , including a small ornate vase of the Gobelet type and many millstones . Bone and antler tools and loom weights made of clay also appeared. The pottery characteristic of Champ-Durand also appears in various megalithic structures in the south of the Vendée ( Tumulus du Pey von Fontaine ) and in northern Maine-et-Loire.
Culture carrier
The use of the facility is attributed to the Peu Richard culture (3400 to 2900 BC). The bearers of the culture used fortified camps more than 150 m in diameter, which were surrounded by deep trenches, as can also be found in Barzan , Semussac , L'Éguille and Cozes (all in the adjacent Charente-Maritime department ). The Champ-Durand complex was briefly used again in the late Neolithic, but by then the walls had already collapsed. In the early Bronze Age, the trenches were completely filled.
literature
- Roger Joussaume: Analysis structurale de la triple enceinte de fosses interrompus à Champ-Durand, Nieul-sur-l'Autise (Vendée) . 1984 ( online [PDF]).
- Roger Joussaume: A propos de l'enceinte fossoyée de Champ-Durand à Nieul-sur-l'Autize (Vendée) . In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française . 96, no 3, 1999, p. 401-408 .
- Bertrand Poissonnier: La Vendée préhistorique . Geste éditions, 1997, ISBN 2-910919-38-2 , p. 180-183 .
Web links
- Enceinte préhistorique de Champ-Durand in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- Description (French)
Coordinates: 46 ° 24 ′ 53 " N , 0 ° 39 ′ 33.3" W.