On the occasion of the development of the town hall square and the planting of 18 trees, archaeologists from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research are hard at work.
Buried less than one meter 50 below the cobblestones, five burials from the Middle Ages have been discovered since January 11.
The excavations also uncovered a piece of the 16th century Rennes parliament building and certain vestiges of the great fire of 1720 which ravaged nearly 800 houses.
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The construction workers had discovered a bone, then two... until they unearthed five skeletons directly under the forecourt of the town hall.
But no trace of a coffin was found.
“
If there had been wooden coffins, they would have been long gone, but we would have found nails.
Here, nothing, only bones … The fairly poor people were wrapped in shrouds
, ”explains Cyril Hugot to France 3 Region, one of the archaeologists of the operation who is not surprised by such discoveries. .
“
In Rennes, it's quite common!
It's not Rome either.
But remember, there are precedents under the Jacobin convent, or even at the Hôtel-Dieu
, he said.
What is more surprising is the axis in which they were buried.
Usually, among Christians, the head is turned towards the south, towards Jerusalem, and always on the back, but here, it is rather south-west...
”
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“
We know that the vestige of the cemetery that we have before our eyes predates the hotel that was built over it
,” explains Cyril Hugot, which leads him to think that these skeletons were buried between the 6th and the eleventh century.
These bodies now rest in Cesson (Seine-et-Marne), in one of the Inrap centers, in order to be analyzed and dated using the carbon 14 technique.
The archaeologists also discovered the piece of a wall of a hotel where the Rennes parliamentarians stayed in the 16th century.
Then, in a second trench, traces of the great fire of 1720, revealing slates, floor tiles and burnt bricks used as embankments.
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According to the archaeologist, this excavation deserves to be longer, but the deadlines are framed by the regional direction of cultural affairs of Brittany.
“
It's frustrating, because there are surely plenty of other skeletons under the town hall square or the street
”, reacts an archaeologist from the site about the closure of the excavations scheduled for January 28.
"
The Drac considers that additional excavations are not necessary due to the limited nature of the work
", explains the city in a press release of January 20, arguing that it is mainly a question of planting eighteen laurel leaf oaks. on the square.
The work has already led to some great discoveries, says Nathalie Appéré, the mayor of Rennes.