In Situ (Dec 2011)
Les fortifications urbaines : une archéologie spécifique ? L’exemple de Paris
Abstract
Over the last six years (2003-2009), several operations of rescue archaeology undertaken in thecourse of various urban development projects in Paris have revealed elements of three of the fortifications surrounding the city. Two of these, the so-called 'primitive' enclosure wall and the 'Fossés Jaunes' [yellow ditches wall] are not very well known. Starting out from these two examples then, but looking too at the city's long history of such discoveries, this article addresses the particular problems raised by the discovery of such archaeological remains in an urban setting. In point of fact, they are rarely real 'discoveries'. The general pattern of the city's succeeding walls is sufficiently well known to be able to anticipate finding such remains when building ordevelopment projects are likely to unearth them. Once excavated, these remains represent only a small fraction of the complete wall which will remain hidden, but even such small sections can have strong symbolic value. Experience tends to suggest that such finds cannot be treated in the way most archaeological discoveries in urban settingsare dealt with. If the disappearance of the traces of the latter, after salvage archaeology has given its findings, is generally accepted, the case of sections of the city walls often demands other solutions. The article will look then at how developmentprojects in Paris have taken into account the discovery of wall sections, how these discoveries came about, how the excavations were carried out, and how, on occasion, vestiges have been preserved both as material evidence of fortification work and as 'places of memory'. The history of these walls is to be understood in terms of military defense, but their heritage value often has more to do with the walls' role in defining the city's limits.
Keywords
