Un édifice circulaire monumental du Néolithique moyen sur le plateau de Corent (Puy-de-Dôme, France) et son contexte archéologique

Abstract

EnglishThe aim of this paper is to present the preliminary results relating to the Neolithic occupation unearthed during the excavations carried out in 2018 on the Corent Plateau and to replace this discovery in its archaeological context. The archaeological significance of the Corent plateau is known since the 19th century with abundant remains dating from the Neolithic to the Roman period. Neolithic artefacts such as stone axes or flint tools were found during early surveys, but the first important remains, a collective burial containing at least 44 bodies and pottery vessels dating to the Late Neolithic, was discovered in 1969 in the stone quarry on the south slope of the plateau. Neolithic artefacts and part of three parallel palisades were also found in 1992 and 1993 when V. Guichard carried out test trenching in the late Iron Age sanctuary on the lower part of the Corent plateau. During M. Poux?€?s excavations from 2001 on the Iron Age sanctuary, Neolithic artefacts and other sections of these palisades were uncovered and excavations in 2017, revealed their SE-NW orientation. From 2001 to 2016, P.-Y. Milcent and M. Poux excavated Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements over nearly 3 hectares, Neolithic features and artefacts were also discovered. Following on from this, a new research program was set up in 2018 to excavate a circular enclosure previously detected by aerial survey and located 140 meters north of the Iron Age sanctuary. The enclosure was initially thought to be the demarcation ditch of a large Bronze Age or Early Iron Age burial ; however the subsequent excavation of its north-east quarter revealed a large circular feature 20 meters in diameter (227m2 of internal surface area) dating to the Middle Neolithic. The feature is enclosed by a peripheral ditch 1.10 to 1,30 m wide and 0.70 m deep, dug into the basalt. Massive basalt blocks in the ditch mark probable postholes spaced between 1.40 and 2 m apart. The ditch also has an entrance to the east. Two slit trenches divide the enclosed area into two unequal parts (1/3 and 2/3 of the area) and form a second entrance on the eastern side aligned with the first. Large posts maintained by massive blocks (up to 0.80 m wide) and supporting a wooden structure probably stood in the enlarged cuts at the ends of the slit trenches on either side of the entrance. Little is known of what this building was used for as the archaeological levels above the bedrock were completely destroyed by modern ploughing. Pottery sherds and flints dating to the Chasseen Middle Neolithic were discovered in the top of the fill. The Corent building constitutes a rare discovery for the area, as the few Neolithic buildings found in Auvergne do not have this type of plan. It belongs to a very particular group of circular buildings well known in Northern France called the Auneau type, mainly found in the Paris Basin and its western margins. The building at Corent is the most southerly example known of this type. Auneau type circular buildings of are interpreted as dwellings, but their size and their monumentality could suggest other functions such as collective activities. In terms of floor space, Corent?€?s circular building is the second largest known. Moreover, it is not the only Neolithic feature found on the Plateau. In addition to erratic artefacts and some features, the several sections of a triple-palisade enclosure of non-jointed posts dating to the Middle Neolithic period have been uncovered during various campaigns since 1993. It seems likely that the building and the triple palisade are part of the same ensemble, as a similar organisation exists at Le Goulet in the Orne, where two large circular buildings were built inside a large fenced enclosure with many interruptions. Even though many Middle Neolithic sites have been found in Basse-Auvergne thanks to preventive archaeology, the large building and palisade at Corent are unusual. Corent constitutes an important site during the Bronze Age with its metal hoards and dense settlement and at the end of the Iron Age where political and religious activities took place. Its importance seems in part due to its topographic location and the proximity of fertile soils and trade routes and the plateau of Corent may have played a similar role in territorial organisation during the Middle Neolithic. These discoveries testify to its particular status during the Middle Neolithic in Basse-Auvergne. francaisA partir des resultats obtenus lors de la fouille partielle d'un edifice monumental durant la campagne programmee menee en 2018 sur le plateau de Corent, cet article propose de faire le point sur les bâtiments circulaires neolithiques de type Auneau et l'etat des connaissances relatif aux occupations du plateau durant le Neolithique. Corent est connu depuis le xixe siecle pour ses nombreux vestiges datant du Neolithique a l?€?epoque romaine. Depuis 2001, des fouilles programmees ont permis d'etudier des vestiges archeologiques sur pres de 3 ha. Une fenetre de fouille a ete ouverte dans le quart nord-est d'une tranchee circulaire reperee en prospection aerienne. Cette anomalie avait ete interpretee dans un premier temps comme les vestiges d'un monument funeraire protohistorique. La fouille a rendu caduque cette hypothese et permis de reconnaitre un edifice circulaire monumental de 20 m de diametre, rattachable au type d'Auneau, et bâti sur des poteaux disjoints installes dans des tranchees de fondation ; une tranchee de refend decentree et a interruption centrale divise l'interieur du cercle en deux parties inegales. Une datation radiocarbone sur charbon (4336 - 4076 cal BC) et le mobilier permettent d'attribuer l'edifice au Chasseen ancien meridional. Cette decouverte sur le plateau de Corent est remarquable pour la region car les rares bâtiments neolithiques fouilles en Auvergne jusqu'a present ne presentent pas ce type de plan. Elle n'est pas isolee puisqu'un cliche aerien revele un autre edifice circulaire de type Auneau aux Martres-de-Veyre, en contrebas du plateau de Corent, au bord de l'Allier, peut-etre dans une enceinte. Pour des exemples fouilles, il faut chercher des elements de comparaison (une trentaine de bâtiments connus) dans la moitie nord de la France --Bassin parisien et ses marges occidentales-- mais les edifices de Corent et des Martres-de-Veyre etendent desormais nettement vers le sud cette distribution. Par ailleurs, l'edifice de Corent n?€?est pas isole sur le plateau. Outre du mobilier erratique et quelques structures du Neolithique moyen et final, les troncons d'une enceinte a triple palissade de poteaux non jointifs ont ete mis au jour a plusieurs reprises. Ces decouvertes temoignent du statut particulier qu'avait le site de Corent au Neolithique moyen et de la complexite des habitats et des modalites d'occupation territoriale des societes de cette epoque en basse Auvergne. Plus largement, elle revele une fois de plus la situation charniere de cette region d'un point de vue culturel.