Fouilles archéologiques de la Grille royale du château de Versailles (2006)

Abstract

Before starting the restoration of the “grille royale” of the Château de Versailles in 2006, an archaeological excavation was undertaken to expose the foundations of the railings designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, which would be used as the foundations of the new railings. During the work, the foundations of the previous entrance to the courtyard of the Château, designed by Louis Le Vau, were also found, and notably one of the two dry moats situated on each side of the entrance gate. An important number of archaeological remains, dating from the years 1664 to 1679, were found at the bottom of the trench. These remains included many animal bones, consisting of 48 % mammal, 30 % fish, 9 % birds, 8 % frogs and 5 % smaller mammals. Although the animal bones were mainly those of pigs, sheep and cattle, there were also the remains of a dog, a cat (both dead animals thrown into the moat) and a fox (perhaps attracted, as the rodents were, by the decaying flesh). The larger animal bones showed knife marks indicating that the carcasses arrived at the site either complete or in quarters, and were cut up in place. The fish were either marine, or fresh water fish found locally. The presence of frogs can be explained by either the humidity of the moat or their use as food. No large bones of non-domestic animals were found: no consumption of game is evident. The larger animal bones present in the north moat were essentially of domestic origin and indicate a meat based diet. This food was probably eaten by the guards, based close by, and it likely that the moats were used as rubbish pits, in spite of their proximity to the entrance gate.

Keywords

• alimentation
• Antoine Coysevox
• archéologie
• archéozoologie
• boucherie
• dépotoir