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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Rurange-lès-Thionville (Lorraine, Moselle) : évolution architecturale, production et consommation végétale sur un petit établissement rural médiomatrique de la période augusto-tibérienne au IVe siècle de notre ère

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Archaeological surveys by test trenching and two preventive excavations of the Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap) in 2001 and 2008 preceding the construction of a housing area in Rurange-lès-Thionville (Lorraine, Moselle) allowed documenting and investigating a Gallo-Roman farmstead of modest size. This farmstead, covering a total surface of more than 7000 m², was composed of different buildings typical for a Gallo-Roman agricultural exploitation. The study of this building complex has allowed gaining remarkable results demonstrating the evolution of a Gallo-Roman farmstead from the Augustan-Tiberian period until its abandonment during the 4th century AD. The limits of this agricultural exploitation are remaining still unknown, but the results obtained by the successive excavations are giving a precise idea of the position and the construction of the different buildings. The excavations results are also evoking the question of a private sanctuary being part of this agricultural exploitation. The archaeobotanical analysis allowed gaining insight into the agricultural production of the farmstead and reconstructing the ruderal vegetation in the direct vicinity of the excavated buildings.