Orléans (Loiret), lycée Saint-Euverte. The evolution and transformation of a High Empire residential and craft workers’ district to a necropolis during the first half of the 3rd century CE—abridged version
p. 255-266
Résumés
The preventive archaeological excavation carried out in 2017 at the lycée Saint-Euverte in Orléans (Loiret, France) enabled the study of a Roman urban domestic and craft production site, which was replaced by a funeral area from the 3rd century AD and throughout the Late Antiquity period and the Middle Ages. This change of land use was quite rapid, following the destruction of the High Empire area by fire. The necropolis was exclusively used for burials presenting similar characteristics between the 3rd and 9th centuries AD. The use of sarcophagi from the 5th century AD confirms the ad sanctos and christian character of the funeral area, particularly near the oratory with the tomb of the bishop Euverte located at the very position of the currently existing church.
Une fouille archéologique préventive réalisée en 2017 dans l’enceinte du lycée Saint-Euverte, à Orléans (Loiret, France), a permis l’étude d’une occupation urbaine domestique et artisanale du Haut-Empire, remplacée à partir du iiie s. par une zone funéraire perdurant pendant toute la fin de l’Antiquité et le Moyen Âge. Ce changement dans l’occupation de l’espace s’est déroulé très rapidement, à la suite de la destruction du quartier du Haut-Empire par incendie. La nécropole est constituée exclusivement d’inhumations, présentant des caractéristiques similaires entre le iiie et le xie s. L’utilisation de sarcophages à partir du ve s. confirme le caractère ad sanctos et chrétien de cet espace funéraire, à proximité de l’oratoire comportant le tombeau de l’évêque Euverte situé à l’emplacement de l’église actuelle.
Entrées d’index
Mots-clés : Orléans, Haut-Empire, Antiquité tardive, architecture domestique, christianisation, espace funéraire
Keywords : Orleans, High Empire, Late Antiquity, household architecture, christianisation, funeral area
Note de l’éditeur
This article is not a translation but an abridged version of the French article « Orléans (Loiret), lycée Saint-Euverte. Évolution et transformation d’un quartier domestique et artisanal du Haut-Empire vers une nécropole au cours de la première moitié du IIIe s ».
Texte intégral
1The preventive archaeology excavation of “building F” at 28 rue de l’Ételon/lycée Saint-Euverte, in Orléans, was conducted by the Pôle d’Archéologie de la Ville d’Orléans between March and June 2017 (Courtois, Ziegler 2020). The area around Saint-Euverte church has been the site of numerous archaeological investigations and chance discoveries, including two excavations carried out in 1989 and 1996 in the school grounds (Joyeux 2002a). The site seems to have become particularly important during Late Antiquity: according to hagiographic tradition, the Saint-Euverte church is located on top of the original oratory, where Euverte, the bishop of Orléans, is said to have been buried during the second half of the 4th century (Joyeux 2002b).
2The 2017 excavation revealed several traces of buildings constructed during the 2nd century CE, including two masonry cellars marking the location of two houses. These finds, together with those from the 1989 and 1996 excavations, allow us to reconstruct a relatively dense urban neighborhood with large plots, probably specialized in crafts or commerce (fig. 4). Many of these buildings were destroyed by a fire at the very beginning of the 3rd century.
Fig. 4. Current knowledge of the occupation of the area around the Lycée Saint-Euverte at the end of the 2nd century.
Credit: Julien Courtois, Pôle d’Archéologie.
3A funerary area comprising exclusively of inhumations very quickly replaced the residential occupation: one of the burials, which cut into the post-abandonment fill of a cellar, has been dated by radiocarbon dating to the period between CE 190 and CE 215. This allows us to place the transition in CE 215 at the latest. Subsequently, there were several phases of funerary activity spanning from the beginning of the 3rd century to the 11th century (fig. 5). While the first phase, which lasted a century at most, is characterized by a lower concentration of graves, with no overlapping burials, the funerary area became more densely occupied during subsequent phases. Until the beginning of the 5th century the area’s characteristics changed only a little, with a varied demographic composition and individuals buried on their back with the head to the west, in coffins or wood coffrages (including one with a gabled side of mixed tegulae and wood; fig. 8). From the beginning of the 5th century, several decades after the inhumation of Euverte in the nearby oratory, there are several burials in limestone sarcophagi in the north-west corner of the excavation area, right next to the modern church. This location demonstrates the powerful appeal of the early religious building erected on top of the saint’s tomb.
Fig. 5. Location of the graves from the first phase of inhumations that cut into the northern ancient cellar.
Credit: Julien Courtois and Laure Ziegler, Pôle d’Archéologie.
Fig. 8. Overhead view of grave F338 from the second phase of inhumations.
Credit: Laure Ziegler, Pôle d’Archéologie.
4In conclusion, the site evolved very quickly into a funerary area after the abandonment of the ancient residential district. The excavated burials reveal continuity and homogeneity of funerary practices over a period of almost eight centuries, between the beginning of the 3rd century and the 11th century. Particularly noteworthy is the absolute monopoly of this inhumations. Indeed, the question of whether the buried individuals were Christianized is relevant from the first phase of funerary occupation. In addition, Euverte’s tomb, established in the second half of the 4th century, may have played an important role in the increasing concentration of burials and the continued use of these religious and funerary areas until the end of the Modern era.
Bibliographie
Courtois, Ziegler 2020 Courtois J., Ziegler L., Orléans (Loiret), 28 rue de l’Ételon, Lycée Saint-Euverte, Rapport de fouille archéologique, Orléans, the Archaeology Center, Orléans Metropolis, 4 vol. 1330 p.
Joyeux 2002a Joyeux P., Orléans (Loiret) : l’évolution du quartier Saint-Euverte/Manufacture du Ier au Ve s. de notre ère, in Revue Archéologique du Loiret, 27, p. 19-24.
Joyeux 2002b Joyeux P., Le tombeau de Saint-Euverte à Orléans (Loiret) : histoire d’une découverte, in Revue Archéologique du Loiret, 27, p. 25-29.
Auteurs
Pôle d’Archéologie de la Ville d’Orléans, Orléans, France
CITERES-LAT, UMR 7324, Tours, France
Pôle d’Archéologie de la Ville d’Orléans, Orléans, France
Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence Licence OpenEdition Books. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
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