Reims/Durocortorum, ville gauloise ? Hypothèses pour une nouvelle problématique des origines de l’agglomération

Abstract

Understanding of the origin, as well as the shape of the protohistoric settlement of Reims/Durocortorum (Marne), was garnered from historical observations dating back to the beginning of the 20th c. Research carried out over the last forty years has also long relied on ancient hypotheses due to the lack of new and precise data, in particular, regarding the chronology and nature of ditched enclosures surrounding the site. Recent investigations have reopened questions that remained unanswered and suggest the need for a systematic re-examination of the archaeological data and its implications. This includes both the data that was collected over the course of ancient discoveries, as well as during better documented, more recent excavations. In light of recent knowledge, this renewed examination obliges us to question the hypotheses that we have long relayed. The new chronological elements, collected in the ditch of the great enclosure, as well as along the roads at the city’s exit, tend to date these structural installations to well before the Conquest. Moreover, the existence of not one, but two enclosure ditches, which run roughly parallel and in close proximity to one another, was revealed. This is a significant finding, not least because it is the first time this phenomenon has been observed within a building site. The layout of the most important one, with its much wider and deeper outline, would not have been polygonal, but rather circular and would have belonged to a Gallic period rampart. In contrast, the second one, was dug during the Augustan period following the backfill of the earlier one. Indeed, it was a reduced replica of the first version, and would mostly have served a simple administrative purpose, separating the urban space from the necropolis. The apparent differences between the two enclosures highlight this revelation of the initial presence of a large-scale Gallic site, whose origin might date as far back as the Early Iron Age. Several necropolises from this period trace an outline of the plan that would later be materialized by the enclosure. This explanation offers an interesting understanding of the organization of these necropolises along the periphery of the site, which had, until now, remained enigmatic. This new interpretation calls into question the origins of Durocortorum. It also has the effect of reconsidering the impact of the Augustan period developments on the general configuration of the urban plan. Indeed, it would appear that the Gallo-Roman city, like a majority of its important overland routes, was quite faithfully superimposed atop an organization that had already been shaped for centuries within this central and atypical site of the Remi territory. And this site is undeniably atypical, highlighted especially by the unusual absence of a developed craft industry within the protohistoric conurbation. This might indicate origins linked more closely to political and religious function rather than to a purely economic role, though the existence of an emporium can be proposed. The strategic position of Durocortorum, at the crossroads of two major north-south and east-west thoroughfares, accompanied by an impressive star shaped rotary branching off toward the various oppida within the Remi territory would appear to confirm such a function. This in turn explains why the hypothesis of an ancient sanctuary previously occupying the same site as the impressive Roman one, allows us to decipher a reality that is otherwise difficult to understand. Of course, this proposed interpretation requires detailed confirmation, even if the currently available clues appear encouraging. The hypotheses set out here make it possible to propose a renewed interpretation and vision of the ancient sources, one in which the echo of such a representation is discernable. In order to adequately develop this introductory statement, new converging elements remain to be highlighted, and the investigation broadened by comparing, point by point, what we know about the formation of neighboring cities.