6533b7cffe1ef96bd1258c0d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Les systèmes de fosses profondes à la Pré- et Protohistoire : cartographie des fosses mésolithiques et des Schlitzgruben à l’échelle nationale

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description

A nation-wide project of mapping deep pits dating to Pre- and Protohistory in continental France was launched by INRAP in 2015. Positioned at the interface between regional projects, on pits with V-, Y- and W-shaped profile (Schlitzgruben) as well as on deep pits dated to the Mesolithic, and nation-wide studies carried out by the INRAP (such as those focusing on the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age), the current project aims to bring together data and actors within the field of rescue archaeology in order to create an operational mapping tool. Constructed on a rational basis combining four levels of information (operation, pit systems, pits, absolute dates), this tool should ensure the incorporation of new discoveries while offering complex search possibilities.The information potential is considerable (2,350 individual features, 71 pit complexes) and is growing exponentially (200% every five years). The maps exhibit very high variations in density due to the many biases associated with a field of research that is still in its infancy. Currently, the collected data confirm our initial intuition, i.e. a very widespread phenomenon the development of which follows paths over time that cannot be understood with the same precision in all areas. This situation does not provide intellectual satisfaction but is thought to stimulate future research.