Jean-Yves DUFOUR A HUNTING THICKET AT "LA VIGNOLLE" IN ROISSY-EN-FRANCE |
Abstract
Excavations at Roissy-en-France revealed a intriguing concentration of archaeological features relating to the history of the landscape. Forty-six ditches and one hundred and fifty small sunken features covered a concentrated rectangular surface of approximately one acre. A detailed explanation of these remains has been obtained by a close examination of plantation types described in old agricultural manuals. The combination of vine, copse, meadow and watering place constitutes a small Modern-period hunting thicket (16th-18th centuries). Some indication of animal species hunted has come from archaeological research carried out on a near-by farm dwelling and on the stately-home at Roissy. Hunting in the Île-de-France region during the Modern period was a source of considerable tension which focalised