Le port antique de Chelles (Seine-et-Marne) : une course après la rivière

In Chelles (Seine-et-Marne), on Gustave-Nast street, excavations were performed by Inrap in a dense archaeological context associated with an ancient town. They revealed the presence of an ancient port, located along the bank of an old branch of the Marne river. Archaeological and geoarchaeological data document the efforts made to maintain the riverbank, making it possible to reconstruct its evolution over time. The study of the remains of this port has identified four distinct developmental phases.-Phase 1, around 35 BC: a riverbank fastening set-up, composed of branches and logging waste, several wooden posts, and possibly included a light, make-shift wharf structure, was installed in the hopes of stabilizing the bank. This installation cannot yet really be considered a significant port facility. -Phase 2, around 25 BC: a half-box wharf –with 17 planks supported by 14 oak posts– and an angle abutting the riverbank, allows this sector of the town at this time to be assigned the role of a real port allowing for the docking of merchant ships. -Phase 3, around 17 AD: a doubling of the previous wharf, more modest and less robust, was built 2 m towards the river in an attempt to thwart its siltation. Several consolidations are attested to. -Phase 4, around 70 AD: a much smaller structure, formed of two parallel stone walls associated with wooden posts, was established at the western border of the port area and more than 7 m from the original ancient riverbank. This is the final development in connection with the river in the space investigated; the activity on the shore was then reduced and only a potter’s oven can be associated with it. The extent of the excavation has only allowed for the study of the western part of the port facilities, which may continue further east. The general development reflects a rapid decline in activity in connection with the gradual flooding of the Marne channel, due to massive alluvial inflows. The latter are related to erosion due to the development of agriculture across the Marne watershed, which also led to the establishment of an increasingly marked flood regime. The riverbanks sustained various activities and endeavors aimed at maintaining access to water –digging, dredging, depositing backfill, and more advanced developments toward the north in hopes of following the river– an effort which could not be maintained for more than a century and which reflects a veritable race after the river. The large quantity of dolia dating