Mine charcoal deposits : methods and strategies. The medieval Fournel silver mines in the Hautes-Alpes (France)

Vanessa Py (1)

1 LAMM - Laboratoire d'archéologie médiévale méditerranéenne

The medieval Fournel silver mines in the Hautes-Alpes (France) are an original archaeological cadre for anthracologial study. Massive use of fire for breaking down the hard quartzite bedrock developed working strategies which conditioned the architecture of the workings, operational dynamics, morphology of wastes and their management (stroring, backfill). These wastes hold large quantities of charcoal, the ultimate traces of the thousans of fires which opened up exploitation of the silver galena (lead sulphur with 0.15% silver). The awkwardness of the archaeological context and the size of backfill conditioned creation of an adapted sampling protocol. Study of these deposits, combined with archaelogical analysis of the workings and a sedimentological approach to backfill, has lead to reconstruction of the area where fuel was obtained for the mines. First results allow interpretation in fuel management and environmental adaptation. This communication examines the preliminary studies carried out during a Master's degree thesis on forests.

Mots clés: mining; fire-setting; techniques; fuel management; charcoal; anatomical signatures

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Vanessa Py. Mine charcoal deposits : methods and strategies. The medieval Fournel silver mines in the Hautes-Alpes (France). A. DUFRAISSE (éd.). Charcoal analysis : new analytical tools and methods for archaeology, papers from the table-ronde held in Basel, 14-15 octobre 2004., Archaeopress (Oxford), pp.33-46, 2006, BAR International Series S ; 1483. ⟨halshs-00504191⟩