It is a “delicate” operation which will allow the preservation and presentation to the public of an “exceptional element”.

Since the beginning of the week, archaeologists from Inrap have been busy in the Bois Grolland marsh, in Vendée, to collect a canoe dating from the Gallo-Roman era.

It is a relic about 5 meters long which was discovered at the site by chance in 2019, and which has since been able to be dated, by radiocarbon, to the 1st century BC.

The canoe was able to be taken out on Thursday.

“The boat partially retains its edges over a height of 0.28 m.

It is straight with a flat bottom and straight edges, reports the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Pays-de-la-Loire (Drac).

This is the first evidence of a wooden navigation element unearthed in the Vendée department”.

🔎 A Gallic canoe in the marsh.



This Thursday, a canoe more than 2 centuries old was extracted from a marsh in Île-d'Olonne.


Direction Grenoble for about 2 years of restoration before reaching its final destination, the Historial de la #Vendée!



💬@GuillaumeJean85 pic.twitter.com/ECHr5SmoOV

— Vendée Department (@DepVendee) April 14, 2022


Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on "

I ACCEPT

", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners

I ACCEPT

And to better remunerate 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our "I accept for today" button in the banner below.

More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.


Soon visible at the Historial de la Vendée

The boat will be transported to Grenoble, where it will be restored in a laboratory specializing in the conservation and restoration of waterlogged wood.

"A paleo-environmental study to better understand the landscape of this area of ​​​​the marsh at the end of the Gallic period and the beginning of the Roman period is also planned", indicates the Drac.

The canoe will then be presented to the public, within two years, at the Historial de la Vendée.

Culture

Maine-et-Loire: “Exceptional” discovery of a Gallic city from the 2nd century BC

Science

Pyrenees: A new species of giant dinosaur discovered by archaeologists

  • Company

  • Archeology

  • Pays de la Loire

  • Heritage

  • Story