Exhibition : Pebbles ? Visit ▶BACK ▶

Is archaeology only about rocks? Don't be fooled by appearances. Objects unearthed during excavations that appear as simple stones often reveal a more complex reality. The mineral material, worked or transformed, is exploited in different forms and for a variety of uses. It bears witness to the life of past societies, to the exploitation of natural resources, to technological developments, to trade, to religious beliefs or even to the aesthetic concerns of populations. Sometimes tools, building materials, sometimes supports of artistic expression or elements of adornment, we invite you to discover the multiple facets of the pebbles discovered by archaeologists and which are as many objects to be studied, from Prehistory to contemporary times.

From its origin, archaeology has been based on the study of stone. The terms Paleolithicand Neolithic, defined by the work of the rock, still testify to this. Stone is a preferred material chosen for its multiple properties and its quality of preservation, which today allows archaeologists to understand its uses through time. The first archaeologists, such as Boucher de Perthes, while excavating quarries, discovered the first archaeological deposits and thus laid the foundations of the discipline in Northern France. Limestone, marble or volcanic rocks, they were chosen for their hardness, their porosity, their reaction to shocks or temperature. This material, taking many forms, is everywhere present in architectural decorations, tools, sculptures and even jewelry.

In archaeology, there are as many stones as there are specialists, from the ancient periods to the contemporary era, including archaeology of the built environment, of the disabled or river archaeology. Archaeological research is evolving and developing with an interest in new periods or new themes. In all specialties, archaeologists study the different uses of rock, whether in military archaeology (castles, strongholds), built constructions to contemporary remains (concrete). Its presence is a valuable source of information for geoarchaeologists who study ancient environments. The objects presented here illustrate the diversity of archaeological discoveries and its fields of application, from Prehistory to the present, illustrating the range of objects and subjects studied by archaeologists.

Even before forging or firing ceramics, mineral materials were used to make the first tools. Cut, the silex, a very hard siliceous rock is the material par excellence to shape blades, scrapers, arrowheads, bifaces, etc. The evolution of the lithic industry, from the cut stone to the polished stone, allows prehistoric archaeologists to identify typologies and deposits thus offering us a portrait of the technical evolutions of Prehistory. Associated with other materials, flints will be used until the Middle Ages (lighter) and the modern era (gunstone). The gres then allows to make millstones for grinding grains as soon as agriculture develops, with the famous milling stones. Each stone is therefore selected to meet a specific need.

Materials are selected for their availability in the vicinity. Some rarer and more sought-after ones are imported, such as marble. Rock is both form and color: it forms the modulesand supports of architecture (walls, columns, capitals), decorations(foliage, crenulations) and sculptures. It is often painted, such as the sculptures of the rood screen of Notre-Dame de Paris.
For mosaics, its color is chosen, and for sculptures, its grain.
Their preferential uses vary according to the periods, the cultures but also the techniques implemented.
This wealth can be admired all over France in museums, during exhibitions and visits to archaeological sites. Excavations regularly allow for new discoveries to be highlighted and new sites to be opened to the public.

If for the archaeologist any object discovered is precious, he sometimes finds real jewelry. Worn since the origin by women and men, they bring us into the intimacy of their owners. In addition to its value, the jewel is a symbol, both a sign of wealth, social belonging, object of pomp, devotion or magical amulet.
Aesthetic and luxury objects, they are composed of rare materials such as metals (gold, silver) and gems(garnets, rubies, carnelian). These materials, chosen for their aesthetic characteristics (fineness, hardness or color), are also distinguished by their rarity and their distant provenance. Thanks to these discoveries, archaeologists are exploring trade routes, exchange networks and links between different civilizations and investigating the origins of these precious stones.

Exhibition created by the archaeology student-curators of the Institut National du Patrimoine and the Institut National des Etudes Territoriales as part of the European Archaeology Days 2022.

Promotion Michelle Perrot
Olivier BRUN
Laëtitia DEUDON
Agnès LASCAUX
Thierry MARCK
Ali TABIBOU


Permanent exhibition places of the presented objects:

Avranches [50] - Scriptorial.
Besançon [25] - Musée des Beaux Arts et d'Archéologie.
Bordeaux [33] - Musée d'Aquitaine.
Clermont-Ferrand [63] - Musée Bargoin.
Epernay [51] - Musée du vin de Champagne et d'Archéologie régionale.
Guiry-en-Vexin [95] - Departmental Archaeological Museum of Val d'Oise.
Laon [02] - Laon Country Art and Archaeology Museum.
Lezoux [63] -Departmental Ceramic Museum.  
Lille [59] - Palais des Beaux Arts.
Lucciana [20] - Mariana Archaeological Site Museum, Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
Lyon [69] - Lugdunum, Museum and Roman Theaters.
Mâcon [71] - Ursuline Museum.
Marseille [13] - Musée d'Histoire de Marseille.
Nancy [54] - Musée des Beaux-Arts.
Nantes [44] - Musée Dobrée / Grand Patrimoine de Loire-Atlantique.
Rouen [76] - Departmental Museum of Antiquities of Seine-Maritime.
Saint-Dié-des-Vosges [88] - Pierre-Noël Museum.
Saint-Dizier [52] - Musée Municipal.
Sens [89] - Sens Museums.

To go further:

- Exhibition "Old Pebbles & Noble Stone, the Archaeology of Gallo-Roman Stone", from September 27, 2020 to May 2, 2021 in Ath

- Exhibition "Old papers, old pebbles? Hidden treasures of Nice's cultural establishments", Nice Museum of Archaeology, from October 20 to December 31, 2012.