Site archéologique de La Maxe

English translation

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History

Micro-relief situated immediately east of the village of La Maxe, near the place-name "Grange d'Anvie", known from historical sources since the 15th century. This slight eminence, of approximately 6 hectares, reaches at its highest point an altitude of 165 m NGF, dominating by approximately 2.50 m the neighbouring lands. This favourable topographical characteristic, in the sector widely subject to flooding by the Moselle, explains the concentration of human occupations which succeeded one another there from the Early Neolithic (5000 BCE) until the early Middle Ages. The site has been known since 1991 when aerial survey revealed numerous anomalies relating to stone buildings, ditches and pits. The majority of the land concerned was the subject of a campaign of archaeological evaluation test pits, carried out in 1995. Finally, the plots adjacent to the west were the subject in 1995-1996 of a partial preventive excavation (stripped surface 5000 m2) which confirmed the chronological indications provided by the test pits and the density of structures, particularly around the edges of the lands concerned. The earliest phase of occupation is attributable to the Early Neolithic, attested by the presence within the excavated area of two post-built buildings - one 8 m wide was identified over 30 m in length - and pits, datable to the Recent Linearbandkeramik (around 5000 BCE). Protohistory is represented in the test pits by evidence of the Early Bronze Age (1800-1500 BCE) and Late Bronze Age IIb (1100-1000 BCE). The excavated area also yielded Late La Tène settlement structures (1st century BCE). The two most densely occupied phases relate, however, to historical periods: these are an important rural Gallo-Roman establishment and early Middle Ages settlement which overlies the remains of the previous site. The ancient rural establishment was partially identified within the scope of the 1995-1996 excavation, which led to the discovery of several post-built annexe buildings, as well as an isolated cellar, 5 × 4 m, built in the late 1st century and abandoned in the second half of the 4th century CE. Remains of the residential part, numerous walls and robber trenches, as well as remains of a hypocaust (underfloor heating system) which indicate the presence of buildings over a total surface of at least 8000 m2 including the building discovered by aerial survey. A sculptured element and numerous fragments of white marble collected during the test pits testify to luxurious decoration. The early Middle Ages site can, in view of the excavated area, be situated chronologically at the end of the Merovingian period and the beginning of the Carolingian period (8th-9th centuries). The excavation revealed three concentrations of posts corresponding probably to several states of buildings, and 9 hut foundations, small annexe installations usually devoted to craft purposes. Material related to textile and bone working was encountered, as well as two silos (cereal storage) attributable more precisely to the Carolingian period. Moreover, the medieval ground surface was in place over more than 1000 m2, a rare characteristic in rural contexts. The test pits show that the density of early Middle Ages structures is maximal in the sector occupied by Gallo-Roman buildings (included in the lands, object of the present request), which may indicate a reuse of ancient remains, as has already been observed at other sites. This diachronic valley-floor site therefore contains very rich potential concerning early settlement in the Moselle valley in the Neolithic and during Protohistory, as well as for historical periods. The succession of an important rural establishment, occupied at least until the 4th century, and relatively early early Middle Ages settlement (continuity of occupation is not excluded) is particularly interesting.