Saint-Jean-the-Thomas

Saint-Jean-the-Thomas is a common French, located in the department of the Manche and the area Basse-Normandie.

Geography

History

Administration

Demography

Places and monuments

Church of Saint-Jean-the-Thomas

By outside and the interior, one can find the eleven century old mark of history of the church, of his rehandlings and scars… A visit is essential:
  • chorus of the 10th century (préroman recognizable with the granite hardcores and the small windows.)
  • murals of the 11th century (Romance)
  • walls of the nave and the vault of the 11th century (Romance)
  • openings of the nave (Gothic)
  • the statue of holy Anne (14th century)
  • the statue of the Virgin to the child of the 15th century
  • the southern porch and the crucifix of the 16th century
  • the statue of Brace of the 18th century
  • the retable of 18th, 19th and 20th centuries
  • the tower bell-tower of the 20th century
  • paintings mural: not very readable, they was identified like the representation of the biblical cycle of Caïn and Abel, topic expensive at the time Romance. The confrontation of the two brothers:
    • the offering by Abel with the red coat of a lamb that God blesses and the offering by Caïn with the yellow coat of a small sheaf, whereas a more important sheaf remains between its legs.
    • the murder of Abel by Caïn with work tools agricultural, a triangular shovel. In the following scene, God intervenes to protect Caïn.

Archeology of the fisheries in the north-Eastern part of Bay of the Mount-Saint-Michel

Like all the large European estuaries, the Bay of the Mount-Saint-Michel offers a specific and spectacular archaeological inheritance. It owes it with several characteristics related to an exceptional environment. Initially, it owes it with the richness of the littoral resources such as fish and salt. It also owes it with geological conditions seldom met: on the one hand, a continuous sedimentation throughout all Holocene recent (since 6.300 years before JC), and on the other hand, with the omnipresence of the water, which it is about fresh water of the Ground water or salt water brought by the beat of the tides. By the quality of the conservation of the vestiges within fine sediments muddy or sandy, the sites called “in moist environment” constitute one of the current priorities of archaeological research.

The recent archaeological research carried out in the southern part of Bay went on the activity of brickwork at the Gallic and Gallo-Roman times (Bizien-Jaglin, 1995), as on the occupation of the Hillock of Lillemer and its marsh around 4000 years before JC (Laporte and Al , 2003). We will evoke here the work in progress on the north-Eastern part which relates mainly to the vestiges of old fixed fisheries.

Fisheries of the North-East of Bay In 2003, we launched a research program aiming at studying the old installations on the maritime* field. This project showed the exceptional general state of conservation of this type of sites. The north-eastern zone of the Bay (sector of Saint-Jean-the-Thomas - Champeaux) constitutes in this respect a true laboratory of study for the old fisheries. Thanks to a weak exposure to the swell of the North-West and deposits of very fine sediments, the vestiges of these sites could be remarkably preserved, even if they today are largely threatened by the coastal erosion.

Work on the intertidal zone was undertaken under difficult conditions. They have until now comprised of the land surveys, the study of the sedimentary context of this zone, of the sampling campaigns of wood, the excavations and work of analysis (study of the wood and the fish remainders, C14 datings).

The sites discovered are divided in 3 great units: - in the south, of the fisheries out of wooden of the beginning of old Bronze (around 2000 years before JC in gauged date) - in north, of the medieval fisheries interfering dams stone and palisades out of wooden - in the center, a whole of circular structures out of stones (with sometimes of the wood piles), not dated and probably also related to fishing.

This research project is cofinanced by the Ministry for the Culture and the Communication (regional DRAC-service of archeology) and the General advice of the English Channel. The Group of Archaeological Research of Cotentin ensures the management of these means.

Fisheries out of wooden of the beach of Pignochet and the beach Saint-Michel in Saint-Jean-the-Thomas

Most of the work of excavation mainly concerned the site of the fisheries of the " Beach of Pignochet" in Saint-Jean-the-Thomas (Handle), who is today one of the oldest installations of this type in Europe. It returns to Alain Homer to have discovered this site in the years 1970 and to have made of it a first study with the collaboration of A. Petra.

Around 2000 years before JC, the sea a mean level relatively near to current in a transgressive context reached temporarily. Moving into a zone crossed by channels of tide, the men then built on the estran a vast installation out of wooden, covering nearly 2 hectares and intended to trap fish. Discovered in a state of exceptional conservation, it consists of alignments of piles: in the center, two structures closed out of wood, periphery of radiant alignments. Each alignment supported an interlacing of gaules, while very fine branches, the herbaceous ones or stems of ferns frequently protected the base from these hedges, strongly exposed to the swell, and which required a permanent maintenance.

One of the most spectacular aspects of the site also resides in the presence of multiple oblique reinforcements supporting the palisades, which were to rise with a 1,50 m height minimum.

The principal gasolines having been used for manufacture of the piles are the alder, the willow, the ash, the hazel tree, more rarely the oak. The analysis of the elements resulting from the excavation of the first surveys also allows an approach of the supply wooden of mattress especially made up of hazel trees, but also of willows and brooms.

The many channels which cross the installation seem to have had an important function. The principle of trapping of fish seems however more complex than the current fisheries. The knowledge of the environment of the site progressed considerably grace, on the one hand, with a close cooperation with the geologists and geomorphologists working on the site. The first typology of the lithological facies on the current intertidal zone was thus drawn up. The main aims of this analysis are to measure the distance of the site by rarapport at the coast, to identify the multiple channels which furrowed the estran and to date them compared to the period from operation from the fisheries.

The excavation of multiple sectors was rich technical informations, as well on the safety devices of the foot of hedge as on the modes of mattress. The rise in mattress preserved thanks to a cover of pitches can thus reach about fifty centimetres. The passage of small channels of tide crossing of the hedges of mattress can be identified on the surface by the presence of many rollers of pitches or gravels. Installations discovered evoke several “fishing” zones and the possibility of barring the channel by a net or a large bow net. Active erosion allowed the observation of many prints of quite visible human steps, as well as zones of circulation of Bovidae. The archaeological artefacts met are rare and often without relationship with those which one would find on a site of habitat: balance of terra cotta net, shavings, bonds twisted in branches of hazel tree, tool out of wooden of fixed stag intended to split wood. The fish remainders are frequently trapped in foot of hedge: the sifting of the many taking away allowed the collection of a great number of scales, of some elements of rachis and cranium currently under study.

The fisheries out of wooden of the Saint-Michel beach are located approximately 500 m at the north of the preceding one and use the same vast system of channels of tides. These fisheries out of wooden, more recently discovered, have overall the shape out of V whose angle is very open towards the North-West. It is indisputably established in old a paléochenal clogged. With the point of the device, the line of piles stops to make place with an installation which was partially excavated. Along the piles appeared a fine gaules screen of hazel tree interlaced on a reinforcement of épointés stakes. These stakes are distributed every 20 cm on average and form a true panel of autonomous mattress, fixed on the face downstream of the hedge.

The existence of mobile panel of mattress is for the first time attested in our zone of study. This device is known as of the final Neolithic era and was employed until almost today on the fisheries out of wooden of the Western frontage of Cotentin. This installation seems contemporary of the beach ensemble of Pignochet.

Stone medieval fisheries of Champeaux

In the south of the cliff which forms the limit of the solid mass of Carolles, a vast complex of stone dams appears in the shape of V, covering nearly 12 hectares. This spectacular and visible whole top of cliff emerged from the sediments estuariens in the years of post-war period. Completely envasé, it reappeared with A. Homer and A. Petra only in 1992 by the effect of the coastal erosion. Catherine Bizien-Jaglin flew over these fisheries in September 2000 and makes of it state for the first time in 2001. The first index of the seniority of this unit is provided in a very indirect way, in the charter of foundation of the abbey of Lucerne in 1162, which mentions that the Guillaume lord of Midsummer's Day made gift, at Midsummer's Day even, of fisheries thus mentioned: “the place of one fisheries to the sea and all the dîme of all the fisheries and the cuttlefish coming from fishing in boat”. Nothing states however that it is about the same group of fisheries.

A first C14 dating realized on a sample coming from a pile of oak located within one of the oldest dams of the site gave approximately 700 after JC. It thus appears that, in this precise case, of the work of more recent restoration and maintenance the vestiges did not make disappear from the primitive installation. The general statement of the vestiges is in hand thanks to a differential apparatus GPS.

Assessment

For lack of an interest sufficient for the river and maritime inheritance, the archeology of the fisheries knew a considerable delay in France, particularly for the littoral zone. However the fish in estuary offers one of the greatest densities of food of which can lay out the traditional companies.

Elsewhere in Europe, particularly in British Isles, the data accumulated on this activity are very numerous since a score of years. They were possible mainly in the large estuaries which offer very protected conditions, comparable with those of Bay of the Mount-Saint-Michel, which are single on the French littoral.

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