Artisanat potier et exploitation du bois dans les chênaies du nord de Montpellier au XIIIe siècle (Hérault, Argelliers, Mas-Viel)

Abstract

The program of excavation pursued in the area of the “Roc de Pampelune” in Argelliers, a settlement established and fortified in the VIth century A. D. and reoccupied in the XIIIth, has been associated since 1999 with a more general research concerning the occupation of the oak groves in the back-country of Montpellier during the Middle Ages. To this end, a recovery excavation was led on the summit of Mas-Viel hill where surveys had allowed the pinpointing of several red ceramic ovens. One of these ovens was able to be studied, and dated with radiocarbon to the years 1220-1287. The study of about 21000 fragments of ceramic, attributed to at least 851 different items, allows us for the first time to define typological outlines of an until-now little studied original production from the Languedoc. The botanical identification of 890 charcoal pieces and the dendrography of 79 pieces of several centimetres are evidence to the use of 8 species, mainly the Holm oak, the Box tree and the Filaire and/ or Alaterne, which were in the form of calibrated bundles of sticks. The composition of afforestations, the age and the calibre of stalks allow a rather precise evaluation of the rhythms of cutting the copses of Holm oak, including supplying combustible material to the other handicrafts. Finally, the setting up of the workshop near Valène wood acquired by the consuls of Montpellier in 1215 allows us to envisage that this ceramic ware occupied a privileged place on the table in Montpellier.

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