A limestone landscape from the air: le Causse Mejean, Languedoc, France.

A limestone landscape from the air: le Causse Mejean, Languedoc, France. A small selection of archaeological air photographs taken in 1998is offered here to demonstrate that palaeo-landscape analysis from theair can be effective in at least one sort of southern Frenchcountryside, the limestone upland of Languedoc. The area exemplified, leCausse Mejean, is at an altitude of c. 950 m in a pastoral regime, farfrom the scene of France's best-known archaeological aerialphotographs, Agache's dramatic aerial images in widespread,northern arable (e.g. Agache 1970). The French landscape and French rural history are, of course,well-known as fertile fields of distinguished scholarship (e.g. Bloch1966; Braudel 1989; 1990; Duby & Wallon 1975-77; Trochet 1993). Suchwork provides an intellectual framework for all new research on thecultural landscape, a framework which now includes the conceptthat' un paysage rural n'est plus un paysage naturel'(Brunet 1992: 16). Provincial history is a particular strength withinthe French tradition, and Languedoc is no exception (e.g. Cholvy et al.1991; Marres 1935; Martel 1936). These few photographs, then, can beviewed in the context of a national tradition of landscape scholarship.At the same time, they exhibit a time-depth and structural complexitylong familiar both in aerial photography This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details.This article has been tagged since September 2007. and in landscape studieselsewhere in Europe (e.g. Crawford & Keiller 1928; Brongers 1976;Wilson 1982). They also indicate that, in terms of landscapearchaeology Landscape archaeology is a body of method and theory for the study of the material traces of past peoples within the context of their interactions in the wider (typically regional) social and natural environment they inhabited. , much is to be learnt - and that at least some of it can belearnt - in the remoter areas of the Massif Central Massif Central(mäsēf` säNträl`)[Fr.,=central highlands], great mountainous plateau, c.33,000 sq mi (85,470 sq km), S central France, covering almost a sixth of the surface of the country. and points south(cf. Bastide Bastides are fortified[1] new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony and Aquitaine during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144,[2] as the first bastides. et al. 1972: plates 210 & 228, excellent oblique airphotographs of pastoral southern uplands, described scenically in thelong captions but not analysed in terms of cultural process). Le Causse Mejean Le Causse Mejean lies about 80 km north-northwest from Montpellier,one of a series of Jurassic limestone plateaux just west of the Cevennesin the centre of the southern edge of the Massif Central [ILLUSTRATIONFOR FIGURE 1 OMITTED]. It is defined topographically by deep gorges,making it like an inland island. Its eastern two-thirds is almosttreeless grassland grasslandsee grazing (2), pasture. , like England's Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain,undulating, mostly barren chalk plateau, c.300 sq mi (780 sq km), Wiltshire, S England. It is noted chiefly as the site of ancient monuments, of which Stonehenge is the most famous. The region is also an army training ground. ; its westernthird is pine forest Pine forest may refer to: A forest of pine trees; see temperate coniferous forest The town of Pine Forest, Texas [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2A OMITTED]. Sheep, thenub See newbie. of the caussenard economy, graze both and until recently transhumedacross it (Galibert 1982; de Vairau 1996; Fowler 1998). The Mejeanpopulation now numbers under 500 people. Their home enjoys a reputationof wilderness and 'espace naturel', qualities highlighted bythe Cevennes National Parc which embraces a southern strip of theCausse; more of the plateau is in its buffer zone buffer zonen.A neutral area between hostile or belligerent forces that serves to prevent conflict.Noun 1. buffer zone . Seemingly empty, thelandscape is not in fact the natural, untamed wildscape fondly imaginedin the more popular literature; it has only become near-deserted in the20th century. Previously, it was perhaps at times as busy a place asanywhere in rural France, and its present appearance is largely theproduct of farming societies continually at work there over four or fivethousand years. Its business is now primarily the production ofsheep's milk for Roquefort and local cheeses, the fostering of amodest tourism and the support of numerous research activities ineconomics, sociology and the natural sciences (Bonniol & Saussol1995). Our independent, very small-scale part of this research activity ison three fronts, socioeconomic (Boniface Boniface(bŏn`əfās), d. 432, Roman general. He defended (413) Marseilles against the Visigoths under Ataulf. Having supported Galla Placidia in her struggle with her brother, Emperor Honorius, Boniface fled to Africa in 422. et al. forthcoming),palaeo-environmental (Fowler et al. in preparation) and landscapearchaeological (Thomas 1994; Fowler 1995; 1998). The archaeology of theCausse Mejean has already enjoyed considerable attention, not least fromthe dedicated labours in recent decades of M Gilbert Fages (summarizedin Fages & Collin 1996, with a basic bibliography). In chronologicaland monumental terms, at least until the late Roman period, thearchaeology is well-founded, and good interpretive working models havebeen proposed e.g. Lorblanchet 1965. They could, it seemed, only befurther illumined by exploring their landscape dimension. Caussenard air photography Of course, many air photographs of the Causse exist. Theseparticular ones were taken in the context of a landscape archaeologyproject which, from informal beginnings in the 1980s in the person ofProfessor Charles Thomas Charles Thomas is the name of: Charles Thomas (basketball), American basketball player Charles Thomas (governor) (1790-1848), American lawyer and Governor of Delaware Charles Thomas (Secretary of the Navy) (1897-1983), U.S. , has in the 1990s been systematically pursuingdetailed field reconnaissance of a 5-km wide, east-west transect acrossthe Causse. It was, therefore, in the knowledge of a considerable fieldarchaeology that this aerial exercise was planned for, with oneexception [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 9 OMITTED], the landscape overflown,all within an area some 20x10 km, was very familiar on the ground[ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2B OMITTED]. While it is of course standardpractice for the initial use of air photography to precede fieldwork, atthis stage in this project the aim now was not so much to find new sitesor systematically record a given area - that had already been done - butrather to look at known areas of interest from a different angle and toaddress questions of interpretation arising from fieldwork. A detailedmap of carefully selected photographic targets was, therefore, drawn upbefore the local glider club was approached for assistance. The delights of flying in a 'planeur voleur' are to berecounted, perhaps, on another occasion: the photographic results arewhat matter here. They were obtained by the author using conventionalhand-held cameras on two flights (1 1/2 hours) undertaken in acrystal-clear atmosphere with bright and low-angle sunlight around 7.30p.m. on 23 and 25 July 1998. Each of the photographs is discussed in along caption. Commentary Visual observation during the flights and examination of these andthe other photographs lead to the following comments: i Overall air photography re-emphasized the scientific potential ofthe commonest type of structure in this landscape, the cairns. Theyhappen to appear on every photograph used here but are clearly neitherubiquitous, nor of one type, nor randomly distributed, nor of one phaseof land-clearance. The significances of such differences remain to beexplored further, but meanwhile a mono-causal explanation of theirexistence, such as their being entirely the result of a well-documented18th-19th-century phase of intensive agriculture, can be abandoned. ii Cropmarks, both geological and of minor archaeological interest(not illustrated in this selection), were recorded in two of theinfrequent instances where cultivated fields had not been harvested,suggesting that, even though arable is a relatively small part of thislandscape, there might be a new dimension of caussenard limestonearchaeology to be explored. iii The landscape is clearly not a wilderness or desert, in anystrict sense of such words, but is the product of much agrarianactivity, evidence for which is visibly contained within it. iv Much of that evidence is clearly disposed in a stratified stratified/strat��i��fied/ (strat��i-fid) formed or arranged in layers. strat��i��fiedadj.Arranged in the form of layers or strata. sequence at landscape level, with numerous places within it showingdetailed stratigraphy stratigraphy,branch of geology specifically concerned with the arrangement of layered rocks (see stratification). Stratigraphy is based on the law of superposition, which states that in a normal sequence of rock layers the youngest is on top and the oldest on the at local level. v Such stratigraphies on the ground surface - without going intosub-surface sequences - suggest considerable time-depth in themselves,and also suggest cross-references at points in time with single, oftenindependently dated monuments such as dolmens, menhirs and round burialcairns. vi Aerial surveillance confirmed the existence of at least fourmain types of field system of Roman or earlier date initially recognizedduring our fieldwork [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2B OMITTED]. The earliestseems to be associated in its landscape with round cairns if notchambered barrows ('dolmens') while another's boundariesoverlie o��ver��lie?tr.v. o��ver��lay , o��ver��lain , o��ver��ly��ing, o��ver��lies1. To lie over or on.2. To suffocate (a baby, for example) by accidentally lying on top of it. round cairns [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 5 OMITTED]; the regularityof the other two suggests a Roman date (though we are far from convincedat this stage since the air photographic impression at La Rode[ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 3 OMITTED] is of a hill-fort inserted into anexisting land allotment, and the Nivoliers and '1099' systemsare laid off from a prehistoric linear boundary ([ILLUSTRATION FORFIGURES 3, 7 & 8 OMITTED]; Fowler 1998: [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 6BOMITTED]). vii The widespread existence and complexity of the sort of evidenceillustrated on the air photographs provides a landscape context for someof the sites previously excavated as if they existed in isolation andsome of the casual material already so meticulously recorded (Fages& Collin 1996). viii A continuing absence of prehistoric settlement sitesrepresented by earthworks and stone walls within this 'new'landscape of structural complexity [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURES 5, 6OMITTED] seems increasingly unlikely to be explained by theories, forexample, placing everyone in the gorges, caves or non-surviving flimsybuildings. Archaeological evidence of Gallo-Roman habitation HABITATION, civil law. It was the right of a person to live in the house of another without prejudice to the property. 2. It differed from a usufruct in this, that the usufructuary might have applied the house to any purpose, as, a store or manufactory; whereas , notapparent on the air photographs, has been recorded from or near severalexisting hamlets, e.g. le Villaret [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2B OMITTED]. ix Air photography has demonstrated, more clearly than appreciatedfrom ground level, evidence of cultivation in at least three sorts ofstrip field [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURES 4, 6, 7, 9 OMITTED], raisingrather than resolving at this stage questions about relationships withearlier fields [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 9 OMITTED], with medieval fieldsboth permanent and seasonal [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 9 OMITTED] and withthe arable of the 18th-20th centuries so vividly described by Marres(1935; see also Fabre & Lacroix 1991). Oxen oxenadult castrated male of any breed of Bos spp. and ards were in usehere until the 1940s. x A post-medieval settlement pattern exists, with not only itsdistinctive architecture (Arnal et al. 1987) but also its own detailedfield archaeology to which we have not so far given enough attention[ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 10 OMITTED]. It includes roads and tracks andfield boundaries, some of which utilize lines and features of much olderarrangements [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 4 OMITTED]. xi The 'blank' areas identified in fieldwork actuallyexist, and are probably quite significant in terms of former land-uses. xii No major new archaeological sites or complexes were noted asearthworks or stone walls, rather satisfactorily confirming thethoroughness of our ground reconnaissance so far. The diverse and extensive archaeological evidence now demonstrablypresent in the landscape of the Causse Mejean, and the development withother scientific knowledge of a more informed understanding of thelong-term processes leading to the creation of that landscape, aretimely. They can surely only enhance the case for the recognition of theCausse Mejean, together with surrounding areas, as a 'culturallandscape' of World Heritage merit (Megret & Collin 1995): itis not, after all, the natural wilderness it may appear to be but'un paysage profondement humanise' (Agache 1970: title page). Acknowledgements. The author happily thanks the members of theCentre de Vol a Voile voile?n.A light, plain-weave, sheer fabric of cotton, rayon, silk, or wool used especially for making dresses and curtains.[French, from Old French veile, veil, from Latin du Mejean, Aerodrome de Florac-Chanet, for theirbienvenu, and especially Ugo, his pilot and self-confessed gliding'obsessionist', for two memorable and ultimately successfulevenings. Two anonymous referees are also thanked for their pertinentcriticisms, here (almost) completely accepted. References AGACHE, R. 1970 Detection adrienne de vestiges protohistoriques,gallo-romains et medievaux dans le bassin de la Somme et ses abords.Amiens: Musee d'Amiens. Bulletin de la Societe du Prehistoire duNord 7. ARNAL, F. et al. 1987. Architectures rurales en Lozere. Florac:Parc national des Cevennes. BASTIDE F.-R. et al. 1972. La France La France was a single that was released by Dutch popgroup BZN in 1986. 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