In the heart of Paris, the sounds of traffic and pedestrians accompany the work of archaeologists. Excavations began on March 6 after research carried out in anticipation of the RER B works. They revealed around fifty burials from the 2nd century AD.
Barely out of Port Royal, this RER B station in the south of Paris, you can see the prefabs that betray the presence of the construction site. The excavations are carried out between the tunnel of the railway network and the hubbub of the traffic lanes. On a plot of 200 m2, behind the barriers, helped by brushes and trowels, the archaeologists gradually reveal skeletons and numerous objects. All belong to the largest Gallo-Roman necropolis of Lutèce, the old name of the capital.
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“We search the coffin of which only the nails remain, the wood has disappeared. Inside, we still have bone remainsdescribes Hélène Civalleri, archaeologist at Inrap, the national institute for preventive archaeological research. We record, we take photos, we take notes, we make drawings and then we dismantle the skeletons which will be studied later in the laboratory, as well as the ceramics and the glass containers which we have discovered.
Archaeologists, ceramologists, anthropologists…
For archaeologists, it is a miracle that we still find these remains today. They could have disappeared with the development of the district and the installation of the RER in the 20th century. Their good preservation makes it possible to better understand the funerary practices of the 2nd century, explains the anthropologist Camille Colonna, operations manager at Inrap. “The graves are oriented in all directions. It is not at all organized like a cemetery among Christians where they are arranged east-west, always very classic. It is the Church which imposes the standards. At the ancient times, this is not the case at all. It is rather a kind of nucleus and it is very difficult to understand the organization.”
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During laboratory analyses, the experts will try to find out more about this population, very little studied during the discovery of another part of the necropolis, in the 19th century, at the time of the great works of Haussmann. “Several studies will be donedetails Camille Colonna, an anthropological study of the skeletons to determine the age and sex of individuals and thus understand the population that was interred here. And then there will be various specialists, including ceramologists who will study the containers, give a dating, try to find out where it was made. There will be a specialist who will take care of the iron, so everything that involves nails, shoes, coffins. And then we found some clothing items. The excavations end in a week. After being analyzed, the remains will be recovered by the State.
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