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5.3.4 Other surveys in Area 3, from north to south

A cultivated field was linewalked at La Grand Pâture (76) on the upper terrace in the north of Area 3, but the only finds were the handle of a Dressel 1 amphora and a rim sherd in W7c (total 2 sherds; 59g), plus a few undiagnostic fragments of tile.

La Grande Pâture
La Grande Pâture: Linewalked (2.80 ha)76No diagnostic ceramic forms

Geophysical survey was undertaken of the pasture on the lower terrace at Grand Pré de Sernat, immediately to the south of Bas Cernat. This revealed no obvious buildings, although there were a few possible former field boundaries.

Grand Pré de Sernat
Gradiometry survey: 1m x 0.5m (8.46 ha)
Gradiometry survey: 0.5m x 0.25m (0.36ha)
90, 91
92
Fig. 61 Gradiometry results
Fig. 62 Gradiometry interpretation

At Le Champ de Maison, in a cultivated field with a spring in the middle of it, at the junction of Permian and granite, fieldwalking revealed a light concentration of ceramics, including two fragments of Dressel 1 amphora. To the north of the spring was a slight scatter of tegulae. Follow-up geophysics did not reveal any obvious buildings.

The pottery from Le Champ de Maison west (UF 83)

No. of sherds: 7; weight: 264g
Dressel 1 amphora and undiagnostic coarsewares indicate possible pre-Roman and/or Roman activity. A rim sherd (G(AV)2.1, Fig. 94, 99) in a fabric analogous to B2a has form parallels with vessels in Fabric B4 for which a 5th- or 6th-century AD date seems likely.

Le Champ de Maison
Linewalked: 10m transects (4.50 ha)83Fig. 94 Diagnostic ceramics
Gradiometry survey: 1.0m x 0.5m (0.54 ha)101Fig. 63 Gradiometry results
Fig. 64 Gradiometry interpretation

In the southern part of Area 3, between the Moulin de Chazeu, and the château de Chazeu, survey was undertaken in a number of contiguous fields on the upper terrace. Linewalking in an arable field at Les Grands Quartiers (UF 80) yielded three flint flakes, two of them retouched. Another possibly early flake (non-flint) was collected during the magnetometry survey of Les Grands Quartiers south, close to the previous discoveries. There was a slight concentration of ceramics in the eastern part of field 80, which also yielded a few pieces of tegula.

The pottery from Les Grands Quartiers (UF 80)

No. of sherds: 24; weight: 157g
Half of this group are B4 fabrics. The presence of a couple of sherds of B2 and R1 may signify late La Tène activity; the rest are undiagnostic, probably Gallo-Roman, coarsewares.

Just to the north of this, Le Champ Réau, yielded a small group of pottery from the eastern part of the field, as well as a piece of tegula.

The pottery from Le Champ Réau (UF 82)

No. of sherds: 10; weight: 34g
This small group contained a high proportion of B4 sherds (70%; 50% B4a) as well as some undiagnostic Gallo-Roman coarsewares.

To the south of these fields gradiometry was conducted in three adjacent pastures surrounding the Moulin de Chazeu. This suggested the remains of two medieval or post-medieval buildings next to the mill. A garden plot (UF 95) near the mill yielded a single small sherd (2g) of the potentially late La Tène fabric B2a, which hints at possible early occupation in the vicinity. Apart from that the surveys mainly showed up geological features, particularly a series of long linear features, which represent outcrops of Permian formations cropping up through the terrace deposits. Small outcrops of this occur in a number of fields, though this does not appear on the regional geological maps.

Moulin de Chazeu area
Les Champs des Corvées (N): Mag. (5.94 ha)
Les Champs des Corvées (O): Mag (4.32 ha)
Les Grands Quartiers (S): Mag (2.88 ha)
94
77, 96
93
Figs. 65, 67, 69 Gradiometry results
Figs. 66, 68, 70 Gradiometry interpretation
Lithics (not illustrated)
Les Grands Quartiers: Linewalked (8.00 ha)80Fig. 94 Diagnostic ceramics Lithics (not illustrated)
Le Champ Réau: Linewalked (5.70 ha)82No diagnostic ceramic forms
Moulin de Chazeu, jardin: stray finds95No diagnostic ceramic forms

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Last updated: Wed Oct 29 2008