Archaeologists excavating the site of a planned data centre complex in northern France have uncovered a rare palisaded settlement dating back around 2,800 years, revealing evidence of farming, food storage and domestic life during the Early Iron Age.
The discovery was made at Fouju, in the Seine-et-Marne department, where archaeologists from France’s National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) are investigating six hectares of land earmarked for a data centre development by Campus IA.
Excavations have revealed evidence of repeated human occupation spanning centuries, from the end of the Bronze Age through the Iron Age and into the early medieval period. Several settlements appear to have been established only a few dozen metres apart.
One of the most significant discoveries is a large settlement dating to the Early Hallstatt period, between about 800 and 650 BC.
Covering part of a 3.5-hectare excavation area, the settlement was partially surrounded by substantial wooden palisades. According to Inrap, examples of this type and scale are rarely encountered in the Île-de-France region.
Archaeologists have identified three separate sections of palisade marking the northern, eastern and southern sides of the settlement.
Each section consists of more than 30 regularly spaced postholes arranged in curved lines, suggesting that the inhabitants carefully planned the boundaries of the site.
Several entrances have also been identified.
In the north-western section, archaeologists found around 10 large pits containing postholes at least 50 centimetres in diameter, together with evidence for a six-post structure.
To the east, about a dozen postholes arranged in a chevron pattern may represent either a defensive structure or a system designed to control and sort livestock.
The southern entrance appears to have been particularly substantial. A porch supported by six posts stood alongside a double line of palisading, possibly indicating that the boundary was rebuilt or altered during two successive phases of occupation.
Constructing the enclosure would have required considerable labour. Trees had to be felled, prepared and positioned according to an organised plan.
Yet the surviving palisade sections are not continuous, leaving archaeologists with questions about how the enclosure actually functioned.
Only the southern section is accompanied by a ditch, and it remains uncertain whether the ditch and palisade were constructed at the same time. Researchers believe horizontal branches may once have been woven or positioned between the upright posts to form a more effective physical barrier.
Evidence of farming and everyday life
Inside the enclosure, archaeologists discovered extensive evidence of agricultural production and domestic activity.
Eight large pits were originally dug to extract silt, probably for use as construction material. These irregular, multi-lobed excavations were subsequently given new purposes.
Some became rubbish pits containing waste from everyday life. Others were adapted into underground silos for storing agricultural produce before eventually being reused as refuse pits themselves.
A series of raised granaries provides further evidence that food production and storage were central to the settlement.
Three structures were constructed from two parallel rows of three posts, while another six square buildings were supported on four posts. Located mainly along the southern edge of the settlement, the buildings would have kept stored crops above ground and protected them from moisture and animals.
Together with the underground silos, the granaries suggest that agricultural production was one of the site’s principal functions.
The settlement also contains evidence of food preparation. Two hearths containing heated stones were found within the eastern palisaded area. These consisted of circular pits in which wood fires heated pieces of millstone or limestone. The hot stones could then have been used to cook food.
Artefacts recovered from nearby structures strengthen the interpretation that these hearths were used for domestic cooking.
From the Bronze Age to Roman times
The Fouju excavations are also revealing how the landscape changed over successive centuries.
Two parallel ditches, situated less than five metres apart, mark the western and south-western parts of the excavated area. Their route cuts across the footprint of one of the six-post granaries, showing that the ditches belong to a different phase of activity.
Ceramic material recovered from the ditch fills suggests they may be associated with a later La Tène-period occupation — the Second Iron Age — previously identified on neighbouring land to the south.
The site also lies beside an ancient route known as the Chemin Paré. The rural track follows the course of a road that once connected Orléans with Chailly-en-Brie via Melun.
Archaeologists have now identified and documented ditches associated with this road.
A burial pit aligned with one of the roadside ditches has also been uncovered. It contained a human burial without surviving grave goods, leaving its age uncertain. Radiocarbon analysis will be needed to establish when the individual was buried.
The discoveries at Fouju are providing archaeologists with an unusually extensive view of how communities occupied and organised this part of the Île-de-France landscape over a long period.
The Early Iron Age enclosure is particularly significant because its palisades, storage structures, hearths and agricultural installations preserve evidence not simply of where people lived, but of how they organised farming, food production and the physical boundaries of their settlement nearly three millennia ago.
Header Image Credit : Hamid Azmoun, Inrap
Sources : Inrap
