2023-09-11 18:00:04
Just as the Moon perpetually presents its right side to us, archeology seems, at least in the media, to have only one face, that of excavation. Researchers on all fours clearing, with a small trowel or brush, a prehistoric encampment, a Roman villa, a medieval necropolis… However, if we put aside the exhilarating and spectacular aspect of the discovery of this buried heritage which finds the light of day and the world of humans, we realize that the exploration of the archaeological site is far from revealing everything. As stated Agnès Balmellescientific and technical deputy director at the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) for the Reims region (Marne), “for one hundred days of excavations, the prescribing State asks us to put between one hundred and one hundred and twenty days of studies behind. We can even go up to one hundred and fifty. The land is the tip of the iceberg”. Where and how is this behind-the-scenes work called “post-excavation” carried out? What happens to the remains once out of the ground? A short trip to the hidden face of archaeology.
A sealed sarcophagus (in the center), from the 2nd or 3rd century, found in a Gallo-Roman necropolis, during an excavation in Reims (Marne). At the Inrap archaeological research center, in Châlons-en-Champagne, July 26, 2023. CHRISTOPHE CAUDROY FOR “LE MONDE”
In Châlons-en-Champagne, Inrap has a brand new archaeological research center (CRA), inaugurated in May 2022, where around sixty people work. Covering 2,900 square meters, its offices and warehouse were installed in the completely rehabilitated buildings of a former barracks. For its manager, Stephane Sindoninodeputy scientific and technical director at Inrap, this CRA “has been configured to the ideal, with the best current standards”. The visit begins where everything arrives, the so-called “dock” area, where the equipment necessary for the excavation as well as the archaeological harvest are unloaded. Dirty, dusty, even muddy, it begins its journey in this large elongated building with a good shower. “We carry out high pressure washing for the equipment that supports it”, explains Stéphane Sindonino. The most delicate remains are entitled to manual washing.
Then comes the drying phase: the objects are placed on large metal trolleys with trays, exactly the same as those found in canteens. For now, the visitor is mainly contemplating a collection of human bones from a Châlonnais burial site from the early Middle Ages. All this rests on pages of the Monde or of L’Unionthe regional daily. “The problem is that people read less and less paper newspapers. Soon, I don’t know how we’ll do it! », slips Stéphane Sindonino, who immediately closes the parenthesis by continuing the explanations: “Once it’s dry, everything is inventoried with clean labels and put away in new bags. »
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