SRA Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Les six sondages menés en 2014 se déploient sur environ 1,5 des 2,7 ha de la parcelle cadastrée ZD 239, qui se situe à l’est du secteur dont l’occupation est attestée à La Tène finale (hameau du Bay).
Outre un niveau du Néolithique moyen, des épandages diffus de mobilier attestent d’une occupation du Bronze moyen, qui s’étend sur une superficie d’au moins un hectare.
Une trentaine de structures datées de La Tène finale ont été
identifiées : trous de poteau et tranchée de sablière basse matérialisant au moins un bâtiment pourvu d’un sol construit (Bat 2315), un fossé de taille modeste, des fosses, un possible radier de fondation et une structure excavée à fond plat qui appartient probablement à une construction à vocation
domestique et/ou artisanale.
Certaines structures ont livré des ensembles significatifs de mobilier à caractère domestique : vaisselle céramique, faune, amphores
vinaires italiques, quelques éléments de parure, etc. L’analyse statistique des mobiliers suggère la présence d’au moins un
espace dévolu préférentiellement au stockage de denrées alimentaires et, par contraste, une présence plus affirmée des
amphores vinaires dans le secteur sondé en 1994, à l’ouest. Quelques indices d’activités artisanales sont identifiés : outillage, pigment rouge, scories cuivreuses, mais aussi, de manière moins habituelle, de probables
coulures de verre. De nombreuses pièces de quincaillerie, attestent de constructions en bois faisant, dans un cas au moins, largement usage du fer.
Les mobiliers datant (céramique, amphore, parure) indiquent une phase d’occupation unique et brève, centrée sur La Tène D1b. Les vestiges identifiés semblent donc strictement contemporains des occupations du Bay et
du Lot. L’étendue de l’occupation dorénavant attestée (7 ha), sur une chronologie courte, permet d’identifier l’établissement du Bay à une agglomération ouverte. Le bilan archéologique laisse néanmoins envisager un schéma d’occupation polynucléaire étendu à l’ensemble de la boucle de l’Allier.

Les habitats de hauteur occupés de manière significative au Hallstatt D3 et/ou à La Tène A sont pour l'heure inconnus en Auvergne. Quelques stigmates de fréquentation sont uniquement recensés sur de rares sites généralement fouillés anciennement (Plateau de Gergovie dans le Puy-de-Dôme, Roc Vignonnet à Antignac ou Chastel-sur-Murat dans le Cantal). Ces quelques éléments ne peuvent en aucun cas constituer une référence suffisante pour caractériser un phénomène plus massif. Cet état de fait tranche nettement avec les régions voisines où ces séquences chronologiques sont généralement très bien documentées dans l'emprise des sites de hauteur, fortifiés ou non. Cette lacune peut être largement imputable à un manque d'investigations archéologiques sur ces sites à l'exception des grands oppida du bassin clermontois qui sont bien documentés, pour La Tène D, depuis de nombreuses années.

Cependant, trois opérations récentes, conduites dans le cadre de l'archéologie programmée, ont permis de palier cette lacune en mettant au jour autant d'occupations, fortifiées ou non, attribuables au Hallstatt D3/La Tène A (fig.1). Sans véritablement caractériser  ces occupations d'un point de vue fonctionnel, la conduite de ces sondages a permis de replacer l'Auvergne dans cette dynamique d'occupation des sites de hauteur qui caractérise les VIe et Ve s. av.J.-C. dans le Massif central et bien plus largement dans le domaine nord-alpin occidental.

The 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 Chasséen 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.


Keywords: Auvergne, Corent, France, Middle Neolithic, hillfort, architecture, Auneau type circular building, hilltop, palisade.