De Bordeaux à Soulac, vingt ans d’archéologie préventive à travers cinq photos de l’Inrap
1 Place de la Bourse, in the bowels of the port
Twenty years ago, the construction of underground car parks at Bourse – Jean-Jaurès and Cours du Chapeau-Rouge opened a window on the history of ancient Bordeaux. More than 8,500 m² have been excavated by around fifty archaeologists. This archaeological site remains one of the most important undertakings in Bordeaux. In the photo above, we can distinguish the different levels of ground unearthed, like a pile that allows us to go back in time. This excavation confirmed the existence of a quay and an access channel to the port dating from Roman times.
Also found, wooden remains of a quay from the Middle Ages. At the foot of these quays, dismantled parts of a wine press. According to Frédéric Gerber, an archaeologist who had excavated this area, the harvest was pressed and vinified nearby, before being shipped to Northern Europe by boat. A practice evoked by often allusive texts which found its proof there, “hence the importance of this discovery”.
2 Under the auditorium, the Mount Judaica neighborhood
Between May 2007 and January 2008, a major excavation was carried out at the top of the Cours Clemenceau, before the construction of the Auditorium. It brings to light the stages of the evolution of a Gallo-Roman quarter established on Mount Judaica. The oldest remains are a cobbled roadway, small buildings made of perishable materials, wells, dating from the Iuh century of our era.
Archaeologists also find traces of a fire “which seems to have spread to the whole district in the middle of the Iuh century”. Which is rebuilt with houses, streets, shops and workshops. After the construction of the ancient rampart in the IIIand century, this district found itself outside the walls, then abandoned for several centuries. In this photo, the very well-preserved remains of walls, street, sewage disposal system…
3 The porch where Eleanor passed (probably)
Place Pey-Berland, in the heart of ancient Bordeaux, the development of the square and the construction of the tramway, from the beginning of the 2000s, gave archaeologists a lot of work. On the north forecourt of the Saint-André cathedral, they find first of all the remains of a “major public construction, probably the remains of the first intramural cathedral of Burdigala”, dated from the IVand century. This excavation also brings to light the bell tower-porch of the 12thand century (photo above) of the current cathedral. An access probably taken by Eleanor of Aquitaine during his marriage to the future King of France Louis VII, in 1137.
4 In Soulac, oysters from 2000 years ago
Thanks to the destruction of a 200-meter-long rockfill to the south of Soulac, in 2018, an excavation campaign is encouraged. It provides information on several periods of occupation of the northern part of the Médoc coast. Levels dated to the Iron Age (from 800 BCE to the end of the Iuh century) are discovered: ceramics, bone remains, plant debris, wooden fittings, testimonies of salt activity (salt conservation). These remains are superior to furnishings interpreted as refining or oyster farming basins, dated to the Iuh century. This level is itself covered by a medieval floor bearing traces of cattle. The photo illustrates the layering of these sofas.