The emergence of monumental architecture in Atlantic Europe

A fortified fifth-millennium BC enclosure in western France

Bibliographic Data

ID7656646
AuthorsArd (0000-0001-5846-4949, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, corresponding author), Marylise Onfray (0000-0002-8268-8675, Vision Objects (France)), David Aoustin (0000-0003-3989-0728, Centre de Recherche en Économie et Management), Éric Bouchet (Oldham Council), Guillaume Bruniaux (0000-0002-9004-3463, LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés), Grégory Dandurand (0009-0009-3230-7801, Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés), François Daniel (Université Bordeaux Montaigne), Alexa Dufraisse (0000-0002-2496-8644, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Salomé Granai (0000-0003-0162-0853, Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique et Instrumentation), Antoine Laurent (0000-0002-2653-1008, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier), Victor Legrand (0000-0002-2315-0007, Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés), François Lévêque (0000-0003-0090-9110, LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés), Friedrich Lüth (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Zentrale), Vivien Mathé (0000-0002-8247-0158, LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés), Pascal Mora (0000-0001-5047-2821, Université Bordeaux Montaigne), Hélène Vitté (Oldham Council)
Year2023
Volume97
Issue391
Pages50-69
Publication date2023-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
PublisherAntiquity Publications (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.15184/aqy.2022.169
OpenAlexW4321366562
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited8

The earliest monumentality in Western Europe is associated with megalithic structures, but where did the builders of these monuments live? Here, the authors focus on west-central France, one of the earliest centres of megalithic building in Atlantic Europe, commencing in the mid fifth millennium BC. They report on an enclosure at Le Peu (Charente), dated to the Middle Neolithic ( c . 4400 BC), and defined by a ditch with two ‘crab claw’ entrances and a double timber palisade flanked by two timber structures—possibly defensive bastions. Inside, timber buildings—currently the earliest known in the region—were possibly home to the builders of the nearby Tusson long mounds

Ancient history · Archaeology · Ditch · Enclosure · European union · Geography · Megalith · Western europe · Archaeological and Geological Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Architecture · Ecology · Engineering · History

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access