Cinquante ans après la découverte : état des connaissances et apport des fouilles récentes sur le site campaniforme de la République à Talmont- Saint-Hilaire (Vendée)

EnglishThe Republic site is located on the edge of a small coastal cliff at Talmont-Saint-Hilaire in Vendee (France). It is part of an extensive Bell Beaker settlement along the Vendee coast comprising of almost fifteen sites or possible sites over several kilometers. After the discovery of the Republic site in 1968 by Roger Joussaume, several archaeological excavations have been conducted between 1988 and 2015 (Bertrand Poissonnier in 1988, Jean-Maurice Gilbert in 1990, Henri Gandois and Lolita Rousseau in 2014 and 2015). Due to its geographical location, archaeological remains appear regularly on the surface or in cliff sections because of erosion. This paper is an overview of discoveries made in the last 50 years relating to this Bell Beaker settlement area (dated from the end of the late Neolithic to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age), which is characterized by a significant pottery corpus. One of the largest of north-west France, it comprises of 2044 sherds and 13.5 kilograms, at least 140 vessels. This includes 59 Bell Beaker vessels decorated with shell and comb printing, 35 cordoned vessels, two bowls and one spoon. 2 582 lithic artifacts made from small coastal pebbles and vein quartz using bipolar flaking as well as ground stone tools attest to knapping and domestic activities with several small knapping areas being identified. The site also shows some evidence of early copper metalworking including metallic slags and two possible features (although these could also have been features relating to salt production) during the early surveys and excavations. The latest archaeological excavation has shown that the metalworking took place on the site using a previously undocumented technique for the Atlantic facade, namely the smelting of ore in a furnace-vessel. Recent excavations have also provided the opportunity to make a comprehensive study of all of the artifacts, including those that have remained unpublished and to carry out use wear analysis on chipped stone tools, radiocarbon dating and analyses on cuprous elements and organic residues. The site located on the coast could be a short term and extensive domestic occupation. The geographical situation favors specialized activities such as metalworking and a possible salt production and/or subsistence on foreshore with access to lithic (pebbles, etc.), and fishing resources (shells, fish, etc.), as well as to a navigable network that has undoubtedly fostered trade. It is noteworthy that the few Bell Beaker sites with attested metalworking are located in coastal areas, with the hypothesis that copper ores originated from the Iberian Peninsula. These sites would also have been settlements as metalworking was generally carried out within a domestic context. At Republic, the main domestic area seems to lie outside of the perimeter of the various excavations, unless it has simply disappeared due to coastal erosion, the cliff face having retreated more than 8 meters in the last 30 years. The ongoing documentation of these sites by regular surveying and rescue excavations within the context of coastal erosion, will contribute to a better understanding of the many sites on the Atlantic coast. francaisLe site de la Republique est localise en bordure de microfalaise a Talmont-Saint-Hilaire en Vendee (France). Il s’integre au sein d’un vaste reseau d’occupations campaniformes observable tout le long du littoral vendeen, ou pres d’une quinzaine de sites sont attestes. Il a ete decouvert en 1968 par R. Joussaume suite a des prospections de surface et a fait l’objet de plusieurs operations archeologiques de sauvetage entre 1988 et 2015 (B. Poissonnier en 1988, J.-M. Gilbert en 1990, H. Gandois et L. Rousseau en 2014 et 2015). En effet, il fait face a une erosion marine constante faisant apparaitre tres regulierement des vestiges en surface ou en coupe de falaise. Cet article permet de faire le point sur cinquante annees de decouvertes effectuees sur cette vaste occupation attribuee a la culture campaniforme. Cette derniere se caracterise par un important lot de ceramiques (l’un des plus consequents pour le nord-ouest de la France : vases decores a la coquille et au peigne et vases a cordons) et de pieces lithiques (debitage par percussion posee sur enclume, outils macrolithiques lies a des activites domestiques et de taille et amas de debitage), mais aussi par des indices d’une metallurgie cuprifere precoce. Cette derniere a ete reconnue des les interventions anciennes par la presence de scories et de deux structures possiblement associees (meme si l’hypothese de structures a sel peut etre aussi suggeree). Les dernieres fouilles ont permis de montrer que cette activite a ete menee in situ par le biais d’une technique inedite pour la facade atlantique, a savoir la reduction du minerai dans un vase-four. Enfin, les fouilles recentes ont ete l’occasion d’apporter un nouveau regard sur ce site majeur, d’etudier l’integralite du mobilier archeologique dont une grande partie etait restee jusqu’alors inedite, ainsi que de realiser de nouvelles analyses scientifiques (traceologie, datation 14C, analyses des elements cuivreux et des residus de cuisson dans les ceramiques).