Prehistory

The prehistory of Cotentin dates back to 330 years BC, when the first men appeared on this territory. Many archaeological sites preserve traces of these passages, testifying to the occupations as well as the evolution of these civilizations through habitats, beliefs and funerary rites. These different mutations extend over the prehistoric periods, the Paleolithic, Neolithic and the age of metals.

Paleolithic Period (-330 to -000)

It is from the Paleolithic era, around 330 years ago, that we attest to the presence of the first humans in the Cotentin: Homo Heidelbergensis or the ancient Neanderthals.

At this time, habitats were structured around the coastline, mainly in the capes from Flamanville to Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue. The reliefs rugged by the sea had allowed the installation of domestic spaces in faults like at Rozel, at the level of the cliffs at Port Racine, at Fermanville and at Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue and in erosion corridors like at Gouberville.

The habitats are organized according to the relief. At the foot of cliffs or rocks, sheltered from the winds, we found the domestic spaces, conversely, the specialized areas with the use of fire were located further downstream on the foreshore.

The Rozel site: a unique conservatory for the Middle Paleolithic period

The major archaeological site of the Middle Paleolithic, dating from around 80 years ago, is located at the Pou au Rozel site. This place, in an exceptional state of conservation, unique in Europe, allows you to study the daily life and way of life of these men who were hunter-gatherer-collectors. This location was occupied on a recurring basis and served as a refuge during the bad season which went from mid-autumn to early spring.

This site operated in “camp” mode and was intended for the processing of animal carcasses of species hunted and/or recovered in the meadow. The occupants mainly consumed red deer, aurochs (wild ox), horses, but also ancient elephants, meadow rhinoceros, megaceros (large bog deer), etc. as meat.

Conservation of exceptional human footprints
With more than 2900 human tracks and footprints, the Rozel site has more than 99% of footprints of Neanderthals known in Europe, some would even have been “shod”, that is to say wrapped in skin. These footprints made it possible to understand the constitution of the group, which included a majority of children and adolescents but also adults. In addition, they also made it possible to locate the different places of human activity such as a butchery space, processing by cooking and smoking of meat materials, knapping of flint and quartz to cut up animals and work skins, etc. as well as parking spaces for children located near work areas, similar to our daycares today.

The teams from the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Normandy, students and volunteers, carry out 3 months of excavations on this site every summer and have uncovered specific work areas, linked to the processing of animal carcasses but also of habitats, dated around 80 years ago. Thus, the traces of fauna made it possible to establish that Neanderdal men preferably consumed large herbivores, such as deer, horses and aurochs (wild ox). They testify to the presence of deer and meadow rhinoceroses.

The Rozel site is notable for the conservation of traces and imprints of human feet, knees and hands and animal paws. These attest to the presence of dangerous animals: bears, wolves and a feline the size of a cave lion.

Neolithic Period (-5 to -100)

During this period, men became sedentary, which allowed the creation of villages as well as the appearance of agriculture and livestock breeding. The houses were made from a wooden structure covered with earth. Some villages were even protected, with an earthen rampart and a surrounding ditch like at Cap de Carteret.

With settling down, lifestyles evolved: Men cleared forests to create fields for crops and pastures for livestock. They also created fisheries on the coast, which were generally straight stone dams measuring a few tens of meters in length. The most complex site is located in Réville at a place called “Dranguet” and is made up of a set of 3 stepped curved dams.

New beliefs appeared, such as the megalithic, which resulted in the arrangement of steles or menhirs (stones planted vertically), as we can see at Saint-Pierre-Eglise, or stone architecture including pillars and table of covering, called dolmens. These are collective burials first for a small number of individuals, then for around a hundred bodies as for the covered walkways of Bretteville-en-Saire and Vauville.

Pouquelée stones site in Vauville

The site at a place called “Pierres Pouquelées” in Vauville offers a superb example of a collective burial. It is a set of stones assembled by man forming a covered path with a side entrance. The entire tomb measures 14.50 meters long and one meter wide.

Covered walkway of Bretteville-en-Saire

This collective burial is the most complete covered alley in the department. The monument measured one meter high and 16 meters long. It was a covered walkway with a side entrance, access being from the side and not in the axis of the monument. The particularity of this type of burial, formed of a chamber-corridor, was that the chamber was separated from the corridor by a notched transverse slab forming the closure system of the tomb.

This era also saw the emergence of specialized craftsmanship with the manufacture of stone and ceramic tools and ornaments. Among the materials used, there was notably shale, exploited in Brillevast, where a workshop for the production of rings was discovered as well as a site for extracting the rock used for the manufacture of bracelets. These productions participated in the Neolithic economy and favored the circulation of individuals and objects.

The age of metals (-2 to -000)

The beginning of the Bronze Age was marked by the emergence of individual burials, under tumulus, formed from a mound of stone or earth. The funeral rite consisted of burying the deceased in a sort of stone or wooden chest, with his weapons under a mound. The weapons buried in the tumulus, bronze axes and daggers, flint arrowheads, were reserved for a few individuals, probably aristocrats from the Early Bronze Age (between 2000 and 1600 BCE). The Hague is one of the regions where we find the most burial mounds, some of which are still visible such as those located at places called "Calais", "Fosse Yvon", "Delles", "Bois des Hougues" and " Lande des Cottes” located in Vauville.

The Bronze Age tumulus of Vauville

During the excavation carried out on the tumulus of the “Lande des Cottes”, three phases of use of the tumulus were revealed, that is to say that three burials were discovered. One of them was accompanied by funerary equipment including a dagger and a bronze battle ax, as well as an archer's amber plaque. These excavations made it possible to define the funerary practices of the early Bronze Age, influenced by two cultures: Armorican and that of southern England, contemporary with Stonehenge.

The evolution of society and the economic system

At the same time, society was organized around farms formed into territorial “networks”: “chiefdoms”.

La Hague Dick, an embankment serving as a rampart, is the perfect example. It defined the border between the Pointe de la Hague and the rest of Cotentin. On the 3500 hectares which made up the Hague Dick, habitats and tombs were found dating from this period attesting to the territory of the Hague as “chiefdoms”.

The Middle Bronze Age period was characterized by the increase in metal production, but above all the appearance of mass-produced objects. Miners and blacksmiths became essential for making tools and weapons. A new economy like the copper trade appeared in the English Channel, so trade routes were created. All this was accompanied by a strong social hierarchy with the appearance of “princes” ruling over territories. From 700 years ago, iron metallurgy became a major achievement because bronze objects remained fragile. This development of metallurgy opened up the structuring of space dominated by a hierarchical tribal system and the appearance of currency.

A Gallic port town in Urville-Nacqueville

In the Second Iron Age, Gallic farms bore witness to a more significant occupation. In Urville-Nacqueville, farms were also found on the coast. This site was a small prosperous town, facing the sea, which maintained regular connections with the south of England. These occupants lived from agriculture, livestock breeding but above all from the economic resources offered by the sea. This agglomeration played an economically important role, as evidenced by the objects collected: Italian wine amphorae, English ceramics, Mediterranean coral, Baltic amber , coins, etc. Excavations of this site have uncovered a vast funerary area including several dozen burials and cremations. Inside these tombs, glass beads and even bone game pieces were discovered, testifying to the splendor of the funeral ceremonies and revealing the status of certain deceased people.

Text reread and validated by Cyril Marcigny, scientific and technical deputy director of Normandy at INRAP

In coordination with The Land of Art and History of Clos du Cotentin