It is an intriguing archaeological discovery that has just been made in Frénouville, about fifteen kilometers east of Caen (Calvados). Carried out upstream of a development project aimed at creating a future residential area on site, the excavation operation, prescribed by the State services (Drac Normandie) and carried out by a team from the he National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) explored two hectares of agricultural land on the so-called Bas Marais plots.
The site revealed two distinct Gallo-Roman enclosures, a hundred meters apart. Remains of farms that attest to human occupation in the first centuries of our era. On the larger of these two plots, stone dwelling buildings and several earthen and timber constructions on poles have been identified. They are linked to agricultural activities.
Archaeologists have identified a system of 20 trenches, dedicated to cultivation, with very regular dimensions. “This development testifies to a desire for organization and centralized production”, explains Jean-Luc Lamache, head of the excavations. The question of plant essence grown on site is now questioning the scientific community. It could indeed be the oldest traces of vine cultivation found in western France.
At this stage, scientists remain cautious. The development brought to light in Frénouville could just as well correspond to the organization of an orchard for fruit trees. But the discovery of several iron tools resembling objects discovered in wine-growing areas in the south of France does not fail to sow doubt.
In the Upper Empire (between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD), it is now established that arboriculture was practiced throughout France. Over the past twenty years, archaeologists have notably found many traces of vines from the Gallo-Roman era. Almost all of them in the south of France. The oldest, dated around the fifth century BC, have been identified near Marseilles.
Vine or apple, whatever the nature of the crops, it is more than likely that the inhabitants of this farm in the plain of Caen consumed a fermented drink corresponding to the ancestor of our calva. The consumption of wines and spirits, made from fruit, has been attested since prehistoric times. The first products made from grapes date back precisely to the Mesolithic period: between 10,000 and 6000 BC.
The discovery of Frénouville comes at a time when Inrap publishes its annual report, which highlights, in 2022, a particularly important activity of its 2,300 employees. The public establishment dedicated to preventive archaeological research, that is to say rescue excavations carried out urgently before a construction site, signed nearly 2,100 diagnoses across France last year.