Chapitre 1 : Le Paléolithique et l'épipaléolithique dans la région d'évreux : bilan des connaissances et apports de la fouille du site du Long-Buisson

Research concerning the Upper Palaeolithic in Upper Normandy goes back to the beginning of the XIXth century and had been largely supported by the Société normande d’études préhistoriques, created in 1893. This ‘learned society’ regrouped amateurs and professionals and encouraged the publication of a large amount of information, notably in the fi rst volume dedicated to the Palaeolithic of the two departments comprising Upper Normandy (1894). This tradition continued, as much for geomorphological research as for Early Prehistory, as attested in the thesis of François Bordes (1954). All these investigations brought to light an abundant quantity of lithic artefacts, which were often sorted and collected at that time in brickworks. This material, part of the early collections of Évreux Museum, has now been restudied. At the same time, recent development within the agglomeration of Évreux brought to light two Palaeolithic sites: an Azilian occupation at ‘Bas Fayaux’ near Évreux and Middle/Late Palaeolithic remains at Parville. The creation of an industrial estate at Le Long-Buisson necessitated the realisation of an archaeological evaluation which revealed only a small number of dispersed Palaeolithic remains, which it was considered not to merit any further investigation. However, topsoil stripping carried out on the areas concerning the Protohistoric and Historic periods revealed several occupation levels associated with karstified phenomenon. The principal results come from the investigations carried out on the site between 2001 and 2003. They were concentrated as much on the environmental aspects as on the problems concerning the conservation of anthropic levels (karstified plateau) and those concerning Early Prehistory. Therefore, the site of Le Long-Buisson makes an important contribution towards our better comprehension of human settlement in the Évreux region and more widely that of Upper Normandy. Most of the raw materials that used at Le Long-Buisson come from the levels of clay with flints that cover the plateau. The material is of unequal quality and their condition depending on local burial conditions.