Stocker et conserver son alimentation dans les campagnes. Le cas du nord-est de la Gaule à la fin de l’Antiquité (iiie-ve siècle de notre ère)

Abstract

Plant storage for food is necessary to ensure a varied diet all year long, and to keep the seedlings. Rural settlements of Late Antiquity store different products: cereals, legumes, fruits, fodder plants, straw, wood, etc. Several ways of conserving plants coexist. The storage of small quantities is realised without specific installation, in ceramics or in chests. The storage of larger volumes requires specialized equipment such as underground silos for conservation in a confined atmosphere and buildings for conservation in a renewed atmosphere. An inventory of granaries from rural settlements of Late Antiquity shows continuity with the previous centuries. However, several characteristics are specific to the end of Antiquity such as the reuse of domestic rooms as a storage space or the fortification of buildings. Research on storage and conservation modes and equipment will help to better understand the specificities of Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages, such as the resurgence of the confined-atmosphere storage.