- 1 The church and its cemetery are used from the end of the 8th-beginning of the 9th century until the (...)
- 2 The studies related to texts, geomorphology, funerary practices, health status of the population, a (...)
- 3 Bergeret 2008.
1The settlement of Soulages (Saint-Maurice-Navacelles, Hérault, France) is situated in a mid-mountain area on the southern border of the Larzac plateau. Covered by a church and its cemetery1, it expanded – in two main phases – between the 6th and 9th centuries. This settlement corresponds to a country occupation organised in a relatively restricted space which condenses dwellings, economic areas (annexes, silage space) and burials. Preserving little material traces, it provides, thanks to the combined methods of several fields2, an image of a community created ex nihilo. For this period, it is the second rural settlement studied in this geographical area, but the first in terms of importance3.
- 4 The plots affected by the excavation cover a surface of 6 000 m². The total surface of the differen (...)
2The settlement is located at an altitude of 573 m NGF (General levelling of France), at the foot of a limestone slope (687 m of altitude), in the immediate vicinity of a plain that expands towards the east (fig. 1). It occupies a surface4 of at least 2 500 m². On the scale of its territory, the settlement of Soulages seems to have been established without any previous plot constraints and the existence of a communication route, the origin of which is unknown, seems to have been a determining factor in the choice of establishment.
Figure 1. Location of early medieval settlements in the north of the Hérault department.
Background I. Commandré 2013, CAD A. Bergeret 2019
- 5 This house, building 7, covers an overall estimated surface of 80 m² (19,20 x 4 m), for an interior (...)
- 6 Devroey 2006, p. 407.
- 7 Building 1 is dug into the bedrock, it has a quadrangular internal layout of 2.68 m by 2.20 m, i.e. (...)
- 8 The best preserved examples are building 5: 2.06 m by 1.06 m (2.18 m²) and 0.58 m preserved depth, (...)
- 9 The best preserved examples are building 8 of rectangular layout: it measures 6 m² (2 m by 3 m insi (...)
3From the first phase of occupation, in the 6th-7th centuries, the organisation of the settlement was divided between built-up areas, a silage area and burial site (fig. 7). To the south of the plots, the opening of several trenches has revealed a sparsely built area where only one building exists. The buildings are mainly situated in the northern part, on a strip of land oriented west-east. Amongst them, three complexes stand out. The first, in a dominant position, is devoted to the only stone building. This “family house”, a big rectangular building5, must have housed the peasant household in the sense of “the family formed around the couple and their children”6. Established on the edge of a limestone terrace, it dominates the other two sectors by almost 4 m (fig. 23). Below, the annex buildings are concentrated in the north and north-east spaces limited by palisades. These outbuildings are of two types: dugouts or at ground level. The first type is represented by load bearing posts constructions (and earthen walls), the dug out floor covers all7 or partly of the buildings8 (fig. 9); the second type is characterized by stone foundations, on bottom plates or posts in ground9 (with solid earth or stone elevation).
Figure 7. Overall plan of the remains from the 6th-7th to 8th centuries, phase 1.
Topographical survey F. Audouit, P. Sarrasin, M. Seguin, CAD A. Bergeret, A. Recolin
Figure 23. Section of the site: building 7 and burials.
CAD A. Bergeret
Figure 9. Posts in ground building with dug out floor.
Drawing A. Grunin, Y. Papatsaras, M. Seguin, CAD C. Tranchant, A. Bergeret, photo A. Grunin
- 10 Raynaud 2016.
- 11 Documented first and foremost in the large property, this workforce can be present from time to tim (...)
4In the northern part, in the central and eastern areas, and in the southern parts, the plans of the reconstituted outbuildings show rectangular shapes with an overall surface area varying between 5,90 m² and 8,25 m². The lack of evidence for the thickness of the walls means that it is not possible to give information on the usable surface areas (inside) of the buildings. Well documented in the Languedoc region for the 5th-6th centuries10, the ground-level, timber framed building (building 13) covers the most surface. Amongst the northern buildings, a first complex includes an annex with a semi dug out floor (annex or house of “earth workers”11, structure 1), adjoined by a small building (possible shed, granary or hen house, structure 12), to the north of which structure 11 may have delimited a garden or sheep pen. The north-eastern sector contains small volumes whose function could have been that of sheds or storage structures for foodstuffs prior to processing and/or fodder for the animals, or even to have hosted a craft or domestic activity (weaving, leather work).
- 12 The building has an estimated 115 m² layout (19.20 x 6 m) for an interior surface of 80 m² (18 x 4. (...)
- 13 Devroey 2006, p. 387.
- 14 Peytremann 2003, vol. 1, p. 282, fig. 128; p. 286, fig. 132; p. 285, fig. 131.
5In the second phase, at the end of the 8th century – beginning of the 9th century, the most notable change was the allocation of the south-eastern sector of the northern part to a small silage area at the expense of earlier buildings. The burial area extends eastwards (fig. 8). The dwelling (building 8) was enlarged by almost a third of its living area12, as well as an annex building in the north-eastern area (building 3). In the same area, a double-naved building was later built, at the end of the first phase or beginning of the second, while several other buildings were abandoned. The timber-framed, double-naved building covers the most surface (building 13) (8 m²) for this type of construction; it could be a dwelling for a particular familial group, another “peasant household”13 in comparison with buildings of identical layouts in northern France14.
Figure 8. Overall plan of the remains of the 8th- early 9th century, phase 2.
Topographical survey F. Audouit, P. Sarrasin, M. Seguin, CAD A. Bergeret, A. Recolin
- 15 In a fill that was remobilised in the upper part during the construction of the church.
6Domestic activities are illustrated by two fireplace features: a hearth and a kiln and probable weaving loom. In addition, there are several small silage areas; the (excavated) silos are located inside or at the edge of the sector where were found the outbuildings. Thus, to the north, a first area is established, flanked on two sides by the enclosed buildings. To the south, a second area is located at less than ten metres of the only building observed. If the archaeobotanical study shed light on15 the use of cereals (barley, rye or wheat, and possibly oats) and legumes, no fruit remains were found in the silos and it is impossible to specify the nature of the products stored (cereals, legumes, grains, ears, etc.). The use of wood suggests that the forest cover was dense enough to serve as both building material and fuel.
- 16 Out if the nineteen burials counted, spread over the two phases of use of the burial area, twelve w (...)
- 17 The limits of interpretation of the remains should be borne in mind. Only part of the settlement wa (...)
7If the buildings, all functions combined, are situated – as is standard - next to the silage areas, the proximity of these areas to the space reserved for the deceased is remarkable. Nineteen graves have been counted16. However, the actual extent of the burial area is not known17 as it was partly destroyed by the construction of the church (fig. 25 and 27). The classification of the graves remains usual for the time period: burial pit dug into the silt or in the bedrock, partial or total stone slabs casings, and gabled casings made out of flagstone.
Figure 25. Burial pit cut into the bedrock with a double slab cover.
Shot A. Bergeret, Y. Dubois, L. Lorenzini
Figure 27. Burials with total (a) or partial (b) slab casings.
Shot A. Bergeret, C. Brossier, A. Corrochano
8Fifteen of the nineteen uncovered burials were the subject of an archaeological excavation. They were individual burials of two young adults, a male (aged between 20 and 39 years) and a female (aged between 20 and 29 years), and 13 children under the age of 10 who make up the majority of the sample of the graves considered. Among these, were identified 6 children under the age of 1 (including 4 children who died during the perinatal period and infants under 3 months of age), 5 others died between ages 1 and 4 and two other individuals belonging to the 1-4 or 5-9 age groups; there are no older children (10-14 years of age) or adolescents (15-19 years of age). The approach to the living conditions and health status of the buried human group shows that most of the individuals show signs of physiological stress testifying to chronic or acute illnesses, of infectious and nutritional origin, which occurred during early childhood, but probably also to episodes of stress of nutritional origin. The majority of individuals with no bone damage are children who died in infancy, within the first year of life, who succumbed to rapidly evolving diseases that do not leave stigmas on the skeleton. In a context deprived of antibiotics and vaccines, the main cause of infant and child death are infectious and parasitic diseases, primarily with enteric (gastrointestinal) and diarrhoeal diseases, pneumonia and other lower airways acute respiratory infections, as well as viral and bacterial diseases such as measles, pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus, being the most common. Protein-energy malnutrition, poor hygiene and unsafe food and water are the main risk factors for these diseases.
9Soulages, by the nature of the preserved remains and the absence of specific activity markers, can be considered as a modest settlement turned towards self-sufficiency, for food and certain first necessity products (clothing). Sheep farming, evidenced by the archaeozoological study, provided the peasants with the basis of their diet, according to a pattern typical of rural environments. Although the pottery and glass found on the site production centres remain largely undetermined, the purchase of these items was mainly through short supply circuits, linking the settlement to local markets.
10The study of the Soulages settlement brings new elements to the knowledge of the population of the Larzac plateau, during the Early Middle Age and beyond. In this sector, the written records highlight an undeniable density of occupation, through deeds whose first mentions date from the 10th century, more than a century after the Soulages settlement was abandoned. This site shows traces of an occupation which evolved continuously in two main phases over nearly four centuries, from the 6th century to the beginning of the 9th century, giving shape to an unprecedented rural settlement. A settlement perfectly integrated into its environment from which its inhabitants were able to draw means of sustenance and the elements essential to the implementation of the components of the settlement.
11Soulages provides the example of a place, a possible mansus, who seems to be inhabited by a family, two maybe. It is possible to say whether it is the desire to found a private sanctuary that condemns the dwelling and motivates the departure of its inhabitants or whether, inversely, its their departure that justifies this foundation. In the second case, the reasons of abandonment are multiple: expansion of the family unit, displacement and relocation of this isolated settlement in a still unexplored sector, regrouping of several settlements in an already occupied sector, a few hundred metres away, in the plain of Saint-Maurice.