Undeveloped Areas and Landscape Evolution of the Oppida
in Porrey and Bibracte
The case studies of two French oppida, Porrey and Bibracte, open the way to unanswered
questions related to their functions. The field research carried out within the Oppidum as Urban
Landscape program represented a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the area and the
reopening of two ancient test pits in the sectors of Porrey and Verger, two areas favorable for
the construction of settlements but lacking convincing evidence of occupation.
Also, the evolution of the landscape around the Bibracte oppida from the Late Iron Age to the
post-medieval period was related to the sudden emergence of a network of large fortified
towns, known as oppida. The trench excavations at the Bibracte oppidum and the operations in
the Porrey and Verger sectors were accompanied by geophysical surveys of the adjacent test
pits of the summit mound dating from the mid and third quarter of the 1st century BC. The
archaeological excavation of the oppida, dating from the Late Iron Age to the Early Roman
period, has focused exclusively on the original areas. The sediment sequences mark human-
induced erosion and geomorphological changes in the 4th-1st centuries BC.
The gradation of fluvial sediments reflects the human influence on the landscape. Test pits at
Porrey and Verger showed that the terraces did not function as fortifications but were preceded
by a palisade ditch. The oppidum was related to the growing population and the establishment
of urban centers in the area north of the Alps, from the Atlantic to the Carpathians. The areas
within the oppidum functioned as fields, spaces for social events, gatherings, retreats, and
urban development. Technological innovations contributed to the production of food, iron, and
mining. The cultural center of the Celtic Aedui tribe was the Bibracte oppidum on Mont
Beuvray in the Morvan massif, an area rich in ore mineralization, including mining.
Late Iron Age ditches were part of the Bibracte fortification. The beginning of the 1st century
AD was also the decline of mining activity after the Roman conquest of Gaul. Parasitological,
palynological, entomological, and micromorphological samples came from stratigraphic
positions. The metals in the Morvan area were related to deforestation from the 11th century
AD to the present and the resumption of mining and metallurgy. The Bibracte deposits are near
Mont Beuvray and archaeobotanical, anthropological and palynological analyses and diatom
samples were used. At Porrey there is a humic layer, with a dark lens. Geochemical evidence
of human activity and climate was related to vegetation changes and peatlands in the Morvan
massif in Burgundy. At Bibracte, geophysical exploration has also contributed.
© Emil Adamec 2023