What archaeologists are doing on site, one year after the fire

France 2 broadcasts a documentary on Tuesday evening on the reconstruction site of Notre-Dame de Paris, one year after the fire which ravaged its roof. Dominique Garcia, President of the National Archaeological Institute

View of the archaeological dig inside Notre-Dame de Paris - M.Viré / Inrap

One year after the fire that ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris, on April 15, 2019, archaeologists excavate the debris of the collapsed vault.
France 2 is broadcasting this Tuesday evening the documentary Sauver Notre-Dame on the restoration site, including the work of archaeologists from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research.
Dominique Garcia, president of Inrap, explains to 20 Minutes the challenges of these exceptional excavations.

One year after the fire which ravaged the roof and the vault of Notre-Dame de Paris, France 2 broadcasts Saving Notre-Dame an exceptional documentary on the restoration site, Tuesday evening at 8.50 pm The film will be translated into 28 languages in 160 countries. We discover the different workers at work: architects, rope access technicians, carpenters, but also archaeologists.

The day after the fire, archaeologists from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) intervened in the cathedral with a program of diagnoses, excavations and prospections, to support the restoration project of the cathedral. Dominique Garcia, president of Inrap, explains to 20 Minutes the challenges of this excavation in the heart of the cathedral.

The documentary Sauver Notre-Dame shows that archaeologists were among the first to intervene in the cathedral after the fire of April 15. Why ?

We intervened very early, as soon as we had to start clearing. We know about clearing… And it was essential to do so with methods of archaeological study. In the collapsed part, we work as in an archaeological context.

Isn't there only charred rubble to pick up?

But it is very interesting the charred rubble! There are a lot of molten or charred elements of course, but there are also a lot of clues to the method of building the vault that had never been observed. We study for example limestone binders. By crossing the information with the geography of Ile-de-France we will be able to know which quarries the materials came from. We will know how many sites were working in connection with that of Notre-Dame. We also find pieces of wood that we can date, and which we can know what species they are.

But this information was known, right?

Not at all. Notre-Dame is a historic building which has been very little studied on its structure because it is a fossilized sanctuary. You couldn't see anything from the vault before the fire. These elements were in place and inaccessible. We find elements of the vault which will be replaced. These blocks are the first time we have seen them in 800 years. By studying the woods, we also have a photograph of the vegetation of the time, the evolution of the climate ... It's a bit of a cliché but it's true: Notre-Dame is a library of knowledge.

Will your discoveries have an impact on the reconstruction of the vault?

Ask the people in charge of this restoration. But we will inform them about the choices made by the builders of the Middle Ages who, since the cathedral has stood until today, seem to have been of good choice… We can, for the framework in particular, enrich the book of restoration expenses.

Have you made any amazing discoveries at this point?

We found traces of plaster for the mortar and it is quite new for the time. As with today's "premium" buildings, the Notre-Dame site was an opportunity to innovate on techniques. And besides, we too, in archaeological excavation, we innovate from a technological point of view.

We see in the documentary that you used robots.

Yes, to access the unsecured areas we used small robots but also radars, non-invasive geophysical methods ... Inrap works with the CNRS so that heritage professions innovate. This excavation site at Notre-Dame is also a research laboratory.

Were these innovations made necessary by the complexity of the excavation?

Not at all. Aside from securing and managing lead pollution, our archaeologists are used to digging into far more complex things. Usually, an excavation on a destroyed site aims to discover the origin of the destruction: war, fire, abandonment of the site ... There, we already know the end of the story.

We also discover in the documentary excavations outside the cathedral.

We carried out excavations on the forecourt where the large 80-meter crane was installed, because its foundations went into the basement. It was great to be able to excavate there, because it is a rare and very interesting archaeological site. Excavations in Paris are very rare. Ancient Paris is less well known than Vaison la Romaine for example. Perhaps we will be able to search inside Notre-Dame if pillars are to be built. We will then have access to unknown lower levels.

In the end, was this fire a bit of a boon for archaeologists, then?

( Laughter ) No one wanted the fire! But it is true that we realize how badly we know Notre-Dame but also all the great sacred buildings, all the great cathedrals. No doubt a national plan should be launched for certain major and poorly documented heritage sites. We are investigating a lot on degraded or destroyed sites but very little on elevated and occupied buildings. Notre-Dame has always lived and been respected, it is a living building.

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