What are we searching for?
Three objectives in parallel: the chronology, the organization of the defenses, the way of life from the material to the religious, in the aristocratic household in the 14th century.
1. The chronology is essential. To understand the evolution of the site, we have to carry out digs to which will reveal everything from the type of money, pottery, fire hearths, bones, rubbish and other waste which allow us, through the different strata in which they are found, to date the occupation.
2. The defense of the château is also important; why build such a castle if one cannot defend it against intruders. Without being such an important castle as Beynac or Castelnaud (Dordogne), L’Herm, occupied a strategic location in the Middle Ages.
At the southern limit of the lands of Montignac, it overlooked (and received a toll on the ancient route from Lyon to Bordeaux. We want therefore to understand the material needs of the defense on this important route.
3. Finally, why discover the dates and defenses of the château if one knows nothing of the life of the inhabitants of all those in the château and those whose life was affected by it. How many families? How were the buildings used, and their functions? What was the chapel like? Why was there another church in the village?
In digging the trenches one can see the strata with the below-ground geology. Find hidden walls and structures, and start to make a plan.
The archaeology gives us answers to all these problems, revealing the layers of destruction and decay of the buildings towards the 18th century. |
