A Late Neolithic Structured Dwelling: the Automobile Village of Lachaup, Gap (Hautes-Alpes)

Abstract

The Village Automobile de Lachaup, located about 5 km south of Gap agglomeration, was the subject of a preventive excavation in 2015 executed by Inrap under the direction of D. Dubesset. The site is located on the western slope of a small relief culminating at about 720 m altitude. The study revealed a structured habitat articulated around a ditch. To the east, it delimits an area devoted to the installation and operation of twenty circular heating stone hearths. Organic analyzes realised on the blocks of four hearths made it possible to highlight contact with animal fat and thus confirm their functioning in a culinary context. The domestic space is located west and below the ditch and more precisely in the northwestern part of the excavated right-of-way. In this sector, a house plan of approximately 104 m² was highlighted. The building consists of eighteen post holes. They draw a symmetrical rectangular plan with two naves. The associated domestic space is made up of floor revealed through a micromorphological study, a small hearth with hot stones and other postholes. The small amount of finds collected provides little information. Thus, the chronology was apprehended through the nine radiocarbon analyses. After calibration, these give an overall chronological range between 2886 and 2468 cal. BCE at 95.40% probability. The imprecision can be explained by a plateau phenomenon. The site of the Lachaup automobile village is singular because of the organization of its space. It renews our knowledge of habitat in the South-East of France and allows us to understand in a new light the ways of life of late Neolithic societies in the Hautes-Alpes.