Un établissement rural aux confins de la cité des Cadurques : la fouille de la déviation de Cambes à Camboulit (Lot)

Le résumé fourni par la source

The archaeological dig of the diversion of Cambes at Camboulit (46) (fig. 1) was conducted between June 2015 and February 2016 by the Cellule départementale d’archéologie du Lot. Their remit covered 8500 m², split into two areas some 200 m apart (fig. 2), but both part of the same chrono-stratigraphic unit. Remains were found of part of a huge rural establishment occupied from the late Iron Age to the early 6th century AD. The Camboulit site lies on the western slopes of a valley, on the eastern margins of the civitas Cadurcorum , where comparatively little is known about rural settlement. The geomorphological context of the site is unusual, with landslips and slumps identified on virtually the entire hillside (fig. 3). These features affected the state of preservation of remains, maintaining the stratigraphy in some places and trapping some levels in natural mechanical slumps. The combined examination of the stratigraphy and the material has revealed six main stages of occupation between the 150s BC and the transition between the 5th and 6th century AD. The earliest settlement (150–75 BC) on the site is represented in particular by a square building (bât-4) of 6 m² made up by four posts in the centre-north of zone 3. But most of the settlement in this stage was located to the north-west of that zone (fig. 2), with a series of ground sills and occupations that surely extended westwards beyond the boundaries of the excavation. Although no strata have been identified for the years 75– 27 BC, the occurrence of ceramic ware characteristic of the period attests to uninterrupted occupation, possibly beyond the bounds of the archaeological remit. Remains from Augustan times then appear in zone 3, where they give an impression of scattered and disorganised settlement, which is in all likelihood just the reflection of the poor state of preservation. Patches of occupation, the bottoms of postholes and hearths directly on the floor are the only evidence of this stage. Settlement seems to have intensified from the time of Tiberius. A stone track in particular ran north of zone 3, while patches of occupation are preserved at various points of the site. Also during the Julio-Claudian period some 10 or so small kilns were built in the north-west of zone 2 (fig. 4). They are evidence of ironworking. The Flavian period marked a turning point in the settle-ment of the site. This part of the hillside became structured around buildings (bât-1, bât-3, bât-5) (figs 5, 7, 8) associated with external traffic areas and served by stone covered tracks (fig. 6). The variety and abundance of material remains associated with them confirm that settlement became denser during this period. While buildings 1 and 3 were soon abandoned, from the end of the C1st AD, the more southerly part of the excavation zone saw the construction of the small building 2 in the early 2nd century AD (fig. 9). The tracks laid out during the earlier stages were repaired and a huge spread of various fragments of material, like a courtyard of more than 170 m², was laid out in zone 2. Alignments of blocks with wall effects have been found on the edge of the courtyard suggesting there were developments (walls made of perishable materials ?) that have since disappeared (fig. 10). Building 2 was abandoned in the course of the second half of the 2nd century AD. It seems beside that as the century wore on the settlement became slightly more compact. The southern part of zone 2 was entirely abandoned. The track leading to building 5 was shifted westward and a small ditch now ran along its eastern side (fig. 11). Around AD 170 the track broadened out outside building 5 creating a wide stone-covered area of about 125 m², much like a courtyard. Lastly, two small buildings (bât-6 and bât-7) were erected side by side on the edge of the courtyard (fig. 12). Buildings 5, 6 and 7 were abandoned between the late 2nd and early 3rd century AD. The 3rd century marked a turning point in the occupation of the site, at least within the excavation area, with a new episode of narrowing between the south of zone 2 and the north of zone 3. Material attributed to this century is plentiful and it is plain that the traffic surfaces were maintained. The last major developments occurred around AD 270 with the construction of a wall alongside the track in the north of zone 2 (fig. 11), while the traffic area it served was further enlarged and now extended over a little more than 200 m², and another courtyard, of at least the same area, was developed some 10 m or so to the south-east. Thereafter the activity of the rural settlement clearly declined until it was abandoned in the early 4th century. After a gap in time, the site was partly reoccupied during the transition from the 5th to 6th century as represented by three pits and a small patch of occupation that developed over less than 7 m², in the centre-west of zone 3. The material collected was present in quantity and in a great diversity throughout virtually all of the occupation stages. Examination of it reveals many activities went on throughout the period of occupation resulting in a novel list for the civitas of the Cadurci (fig. 13–19). The material also points to the high social standing of the owners of this rural establishment the excavation of which has revealed a part of the commons. For Antiquity, the six parts of buildings unearthed exhibit similarities in their modes of construction, which may be characterised as rudimentary. The walls are made of blocks of rough-hewn sandstone or limestone, bound by an earth-based mortar, or even a simple alignment of stones to serve as flashing. It can be inferred from these rather modest foundations and underpinnings that the upper parts were made of lightweight materials. The few complete rooms were small (fig. 20), while the patches of indoor floors conserved were mostly of beaten earth. The rustic character of the excavated buildings contrasts with the furnishings that suggest the owners of the rural establishment were comparatively well-off. Similarly, archi-tectural features not used in the buildings identified and generally associated with luxurious constructions have been recovered from various levels of materials scattered to form courtyards and tracks. In light of these data, the proximity of a more luxurious building, more architecturally refined, possibly akin to a pars urbana , is hardly in doubt. The remains unearthed in zones 2 and 3 of the excavation correspond then to a part of the commons of a large rural establishment, probably the pars rustica of a villa . It is not easy to interpret the buildings’ functions parti-cularly as their ground plans are incomplete (particularly for buildings 3 and 5) and as no associated developments has been spotted. The likening of building 1 to a dwelling, possibly for housing the estate workers, is a feasible hypothesis because of the presence of domestic materials found in the stratigraphic context. Even so, it should not be ruled out that this building (and others ?) might have served a number of purposes, that did not necessarily leave any archaeological trace and that may have changed over time. The parallel between these buildings at Camboulit and others, excavated in the region and beyond, with similar characteristics (fig. 21), runs up against the recurring difficulty of most authors in interpreting the function of these small unpretentious buildings. However, some interesting points of comparison do arise. In this way, building 2, which is atypical with its 6 m² square ground plan, one of its walls doubled, and its two coarse floor sills in succession, might have been a pigsty, a type of site that is still little documented in the countryside of Roman Aquitania. Building 6 (and 7 ?) can be matched with similar ones on many rural estates and might have been aediculae on the edge of courtyards.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.