Indoor floors from Gien (8th-10th c. AD). Buildings materials, use of space and formation processes

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Indoor floors from Gien (8th-10th c. AD). Buildings materials, use of space and formation processes

Quentin Borderie, Mélinda Bizri

To cite this version:

Quentin Borderie, Mélinda Bizri. Indoor floors from Gien (8th-10th c. AD). Buildings materials, use of space and formation processes. Integrated Microscopy Approaches in Archaeobotany (IMAA) -Workshop 2017, Feb 2017, Reading, United Kingdom. 2017. �hal-01533661�

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Mineral building materials

Occupation refuses

Sequence 1

Sequence 3

Plant

building materials

Beneath the 14th c. castle...

Strata of more than 1 m thick Protected by clay backﬁlls

Wooden architecture (Buil. 1 to 3) Limestone architecture (Buil. 4) Archaeological interpretation:

- high status ocupations: early castrum? - domestic houses and/or crafting areas

Indoor ﬂoors from Gien (8th - 10th c.)

building materials, use of space and formation processes

Quentin Borderie1, 2, Mélinda Bizri3

1 : Service de l'archéologie d'Eure-et-Loir

2 : CNRS - UMR 7041 - ArScAn "Archéologies Environnementales" 3 : CNRS - UMR 6298 - ARTeHIS NNE Section 116 14th c. clay backfills 14th c. wall 1 4 th c . w a ll SSO 10 0 cm 0 cm 10 10 20 30 50 20 30 40 50 1 2 3 13 31 39 35 54 48 12 32 39 35 54 48 10 0 cm 0 cm 10 10 20 30 50 20 30 40 50 50 60 50 70 8 17 24 45 55 72 17 24 9 45 10 55 11 72 144,90 m asl 0 1 m

F. 1035

Seq. 2

Log 1

Log 2

Seq. 1

SSO _{section 115} NNE

0 10 20 30 0 0 6 11 10 20 30 22 32 145,04 m asl 4 5 6 7 4 5 6 7

Log 3

Seq. 3

... Early Middle Ages buildings.

Sequence

Section

Type of layers

Building materials (nb µcontext)

Refuse

layers

plant

mineral

Seq1

116 Succession of indoor floors

9 -

12 Seq2

11

14

13

9

10

13 F. 1035

Pit infill

Reworked fragments

11 Seq3

115 Succession of indoor floors

5

7

9 Seq4

Cp77

-

9

16

Type materials Organisation thickness Occurrences Sequence

av1 Phytoliths Sub-horizontal µlayers 10 - 100 µm 13 Seq2, Seq3.

av2 A lot of phytoliths. Very fine charcoals.

Sub-horizontal µlayers of

phytoliths and few layers of plant remains partially decayed

100 µm - 3 mm

9 Seq1

av3 Many plant fragments (leaves, rods), few phytoliths

Sub-horizontal µlayers 200 µm –

1,5 mm

13 Seq2

Seq3

Type materials Raw materials Structure Occurrences Sequence

am1 clayish sand or sandy clay, carbonated

Local alluvial sand Carbonated clay from marl Massive, homogenous, planar voids (cracks), rares vesicles 12 Seq2. (bottom)

am2a silty sand or sandy silt, not carbonated

Alluvial sand

Silts from BT horizon of Luvisol (not local)

11+1 in Seq4 Seq2 (top) Seq3

Seq4

am2b Aggregates 4 Seq2

am3 not carbonated clay Local clay from chalk

alteration

Massive, homogenous

3 Seq2

am4 chalk mortar Local alluvial sand 1 + frags in

F.1035

Seq2

am5 carbonated clay (marl) Local marl 2 Seq2 (top)

Seq1

am6 silty sand, dusty groundmass Fragments of other floors, waste

Packing of aggregates

1 + 3 in log3 Seq2 (top) Seq3

am7 carbonated clay (marl) with inclusions of clay, limestone, silex, papules, charcoals…

Local marl

Silts from BT horizon of Luvisol (not local) Waste

8 Seq4

Texture, ground

mass, structure

Minerals

Organic comp.

Anthropogenic

Features

Sequence

F

ir

ep

la

ce

cl

ea

n

in

g

Silty, layered to

massive,

homogenous,

carbonated

(micritic), dusty

Few flint frags

Hematite

Very fine charcoals

plant remains and

phytoliths

Melted silica. Rare fine bone

frags

Ferruginisation

Seq4

u

se

Silty, dusty,

massive,

carbonated

Lot of fine charcoals

plant remains and

phytoliths

Lot of charcoals

Lot of bones

Melted silica. Heated quartz.

Heated earth aggregates

Ferruginisation

All seq

C

o

k

in

g

/

f

ea

ce

s

Silty to sandy silt,

dusty, carbonated,

layered, planar

voids

Lot of fine charcoals

Few phytoliths and

plant remains

Rare seeds

Egg shells, bones, fishbones.

Pottery sherds.

Ashy aggregates with bones

Omnivorous coprolites

Glass

Clustered phytoliths

P-impregnations

Vivianite

All seq

Build.

mat.

Silty sand, massive,

dusty

Fragments of

flint, clay,

limestone

-

All seq

R

ew

o

rk

ed

fl

o

rs

Layered massive

_aggregates:

building material

(plant and/or

mineral) and refuse

Clay, silts

Phytoliths, plant

remains

Heterogeneous waste

-

Seq3

F.1035

0 4 8m

Presbytary

St. Jeanne of Arc church

14th c. castle

Buil

_{. 4}

Buil

_{. 4}

Cp77

silo silo silo 0 2 4 m ﬁreplace ﬁreplace wood wall socle wood wall socle

Buil

_{. 2}

Buil

_{. 3}

Buil. 1

sec tion 116 sec tion 116 sec tion 115 sec tion 115 Log 1 Log 2 Log 3 Log 1 Log 2 F. 1035 F. 1035 Log 3 Se ine E ur_e Loire Loir + 20 0 m Gien Gien Paris Orléans Orléans 0 100 200 km 50 8 6 4 2 0 2 ₄ 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 48 46 44 50 48 46 44 2 2 1 1 3 3 5 4 1 3 2 wall 2182 wall 2015 SO NE Cp77 m asl 148,00 148,50 5 4 1 3 2

Seq.4

0 12,5 25 50 m Cp77 Log 3 Log 2 Log 1

cas

tle

chu

rch

Only compaction & subsidence of layers

4 occupation sequences (Seq1, Seq2, Seq3, Seq4)

1 pit inﬁll (F.1035)

Investigations

4 logs : log1, log2, log3 and Cp77 20 thin sections 140x86 mm 114 micro-stratigraphic contexts (µcontexts) Phytoliths analysis of log3 Chemical analysis of Cp77

Floors 5 - 10 mm thick:

- Only plant building materials (graminae phytoliths)

- Refuses:

- cooking and faeces (5 µcontexts) - ﬁreplace (2 µcontexts)

- building mat. (2 µcontexts)

Floors of irregular thickness (partialy reworked: Dark Earth):

- Plant & mineral building materials - Mixed refuses

- Fireplace refuses (1 µcontexts) Very good preservation

Low degradation of OM No bioturbation

Multiplicity of activities in one space

Dedicated areas (ﬁreplace)

Reworking of layers leading to 'Dark Earth like' deposits

Well maintained surfaces

Li#ers: smell ? sanitation ? recycling crop-processes refuses (wheat) ?

Complexity of building processes: non local raw materials

Often rebuilt ﬂoors

Intense frequentation

Trampled ﬂoors

Seq1

Seq4

Seq2

F1035

Seq2

Thick ﬂoors

- Only mineral building materials - Refuses:

- ﬁreplace (11 µcontexts) - mixed (3 µcontexts)

More ﬁreplace refuses in top layers

Sequence 4

Pit F.1035

Only refuses: Lower part:

- ashy layers

- reworked ﬂoor fragments - building mat.

- domestic refuses (cooking, feaces) Upper part:

- ashy layers - building mat.

- domestic refuses (cooking, feaces)

Floors 9 mm thick:

- Plant & mineral building materials - Refuses:

Northern part:

Southern part:

Sequence 2

Mineral buil.mat., ashy layer, P-layer,

phytoliths and plant remains (PPL)

Plant buil.mat., phytoliths, meted silica,

ﬁne charcoals (PPL) Corpolite with spherulites (XPL) Dendritic phytoliths (PPL) Dendritic phytoliths (PPL)

Reworked fragment of ﬂoor (PPL)

Reworked frag. of ﬂoor (PPL) Ashes, phytoliths (PPL) Ashes, egg shell, ﬁshbone (XPL) Ashes with melted silica (XPL)