2023-10-09 18:38:42
The dark traces on the ground attest to the existence of dikes dug and erected more than 1000 years ago. INRAP
A preventive archeology excavation uncovers a very old land reclamation system of which we were unaware of the existence in France.
Dunkirk
In a few years, factories will be built on the North Sea coast to produce electric batteries. Wedged between the Gravelines nuclear power plant and the gigantic cranes of the Dunkirk port, for the moment it is only a vast plain. In the middle of nowhere, orange vests are flattening a clay staircase dug with a backhoe. It’s hard to imagine, but in these clay and sandy soils lies a little-known and forgotten story. The story of a fight against the elements. The story of men and women who learned to deal with the ocean, transforming swamps into nourishing meadows. “ We have to break camp in three weeks, sighs Samuel Desoutter, archaeologist at the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) in charge of the excavations. It will be very difficult to reach the end. » The excavation is part of the major project to expand the port of Dunkirk. For eight years…
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