A monumental grave, lots of items… 5,000 years of records under the highway in Clermont-Ferrand

The Bargoin museum in Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) gives an unheard of step returned. Entitled “Le temps de la Méridienne”, an exhibition brings collectively on 3 flooring a number of the archaeological discoveries made at some stage in the preventive excavations as a part of the widening works of the A75, to the south and east of Clermont-Ferrand, between 2018 and 2020. The basement, dug through the APRR (Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône), and the Inrap (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research), has discovered a few unsuspected treasures up to now, along with by the most eminent specialists.

“Four websites were excavated over about fifteen kilometers and the decision is final. For us, some of the discoveries are completely sudden,” admits Marie Bèche-Wittmann, deputy director of the Bargoin museum and curator of the exhibition. Starting with the exhumation of an alignment of massive menhirs determined on the web site of Douleix, in Veyre-Monton (Puy-de-Dôme) and dated among – 4,700 and – 4,400. Among them is a lady Neolithic stele.

A dive into the existence of the inhabitants of Auvergne within the Bronze Age

“This is the first time within the place that we have discovered this kind of alignment just like the ones of Carnac in Brittany. These menhirs in all likelihood marked the passage of a skip, or bordered a route. We don’t without a doubt recognise,” says Marie Bèche-Wittmann.

Another brilliant discovery, about fifty human our bodies consisting of a monumental burial relationship from the Middle Bronze Age and the burials of younger kids from the Early Bronze Age. The exhibition additionally offers pride of place to unearthed gadgets with the presentation of some 300 of them. The chronological adventure is an invite to dive into the each day lifestyles of the inhabitants of Auvergne 5 millennia in the past.