Described as a rare find by the regional archaeology department, one of the oldest Neolithic settlements in France, attributed to the Early Cardial period, is currently being excavated by archaeologists from Inrap in Cavalaire-sur-Mer. It is the second known site of this period in France. Commissioned by the State as part of the city center […]
France
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
The Oldest Three-Dimensional Map in the World Discovered in a Paleolithic Cave Near Paris
French scientists have identified a unique engraving in the Ségognole 3 cave, located in the famous sandstone massif south of Paris. This engraving, dating back to the Upper Paleolithic, could be the oldest three-dimensional map ever found. The research, published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, reveals how hunter-gatherers over 20,000 years ago shaped and […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
A Stunning Late 2nd-Century Roman Gold Ring with a Carved Venus Victrix Gem and Carolingian Coins Found in French Brittany
A team of archaeologists has unearthed significant historical artifacts in the town of Pacé (Brittany, France), spanning from the Bronze Age to the medieval period. Among the most remarkable finds is a Roman gold ring, dated between the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. The ring was discovered along a stretch of a Roman-origin road, studied […]
Posted inSecond World War
The Invasion of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in 1941, the Only Nazi Germany-loyal Territory in North America, Lasted 20 Minutes
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon), a French archipelago of two islands located in North America about twenty-five kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland, is the last remaining vestige of the former Viceroyalty of New France (which encompassed parts of what are now Canada and the United States, such as Quebec and Louisiana). Like other territories, […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology, Medieval Archaeology
Beneath a Romanesque church in France archaeologists uncovered an earlier one, and beneath Merovingian tombs, and beneath Roman sarcophagi
Located on rue Michelet, near the imposing Saint-Bénigne Cathedral in Dijon, France, the Church of Saint-Philibert is not just a place of worship but also a silent witness to centuries of history and architectural evolution. Its past, marked by human interventions and natural transformations, reveals traces of eras spanning from Late Antiquity to the modern […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
A Megalography Depicting a Rare Mythological Scene of Achilles and Bronze Statuettes Found in a Roman “Domus” in Reims
The urban organization of Durocortorum, the Gallo-Roman city now known as Reims in France, faithfully adhered to the principles of Roman urbanism. The city was divided into blocks bounded by streets arranged in an orthogonal grid converging at the forum, the nerve center of political and religious life. However, the areas farther from the city’s […]
Posted inModern Era
Mesmerism, the Theory of Animal Magnetism That Believed in the Existence of an Inner Force in All Living Beings
On August 11, 1784, a report was delivered to Louis XVI, King of France, by the so-called Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism, consisting of two independent committees of physicians and scientists (including Benjamin Franklin), tasked with clarifying the existence or non-existence of an invisible magnetic fluid that surrounded living beings and whose alterations were thought […]
Posted inAge of Exploration
When France Evacuated Toulon and Converted the Cathedral into a Mosque to Temporarily Cede It to the Ottomans
Hayreddin Barbarossa, the famed admiral of the Ottoman Empire, effectively became the master of the Mediterranean during the first half of the 16th century. Between 1543 and 1544, he raided numerous towns along the Spanish coast as well as the Genoese coast. This was nothing new, as he had been doing so for years; what […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
An Enigmatic Neolithic Tomb Containing the Remains of a Decapitated Woman Whose Head Was Carefully Placed on Her Chest, Found in France
Archaeologists in southern France have unearthed a Late Neolithic tomb that raises more questions than answers. The discovery, located in the town of Puisserguier, in the Hérault department, is a singular burial: that of a woman whose head was carefully placed on her chest. The remains have been dated to the Chalcolithic period (2700–2600 BCE). […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
French Women Had More Power in the Middle Ages Than After the Revolution
In the 14th century, power in Europe was largely in the hands of the aristocracy. Surprisingly, one-fifth of the rulers were women. Historian Erika Graham-Goering, a specialist in medieval power in France during this period, explains that women’s influence was significant and, in many cases, on par with men. According to Graham-Goering, power in the […]
