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Origin and history

The Castrum d'Andone is a Carolingian fortified site occupied between the middle of the 10th century and the first quarter of the 11th century, located in Villejoubert (Charente), bordering the Boixe forest. Founded by the Comtal family of Angoulême, related to the Carolingians, it served as a strategic residence during the conflicts between Count Arnaud Manzer (975–988) and Bishop Hugues de Jarnac. Its establishment made it possible to control the way of Agrippa, the Abbey of Saint-Amant and the surrounding forest resources.

The site was abandoned between 1020 and 1028, when Count William IV and the bishop transferred the Comtal residence to Montignac, near the Charente. The Saint-Amant Abbey was also moved, sealing the decline of Andone. Castrum stones were reused to build local buildings, such as the abbey of Saint-Amant-de-Boixe or the castle of La Barre. In the 15th century, the fortress's grip was converted into a rabbit park by the lords of the Motte d'Andone.

Archaeological excavations, conducted by André Debord (1971–1995) and then Luc Bourgeois (2004–2005), revealed a 2 m thick oval masonry enclosure, with stone buildings backed by courtine. The residential complex, organized around an aula (glazed reception room), prefigures the medieval dungeons. Exhumed furniture — more than 400,000 pieces — includes horseshoes, hunting weapons, games (cheers, trictrac), and objects of distant origin (Islamic dishwashers, English pearls), demonstrating the aristocratic status of the occupants.

The site provided clues about daily life in the 10th century: meaty food (pork, deer, peacock), handicrafts (forge, deer wood work), and precarious hygiene. A collective grave, discovered 100 metres from the castrum, contained four men killed by sharp weapons, suggesting an undocumented violent episode. Ranked Historic Monument in 1986, the site is now invaded by vegetation, although its collections are preserved at the Museum of Angoulême.

Andone illustrates the origins of medieval castles, between open Carolingian residences and feudal fortresses. Its rapid abandonment makes it a rare "instant" archaeological, preserving unique traces of angoumoisine secular society around the year millet. The excavations also revealed a necropolis of Iron Age and a Gallo-Roman rural settlement (I–IVth century), before the fortress.

The archaeological treasure, donated to the Museum of Angoulême, includes chess pieces among the oldest in the West, orthopaedic horses irons (first known in Europe), and a near-eastern cup imitating Chinese celadon. These objects highlight the exchange networks of the Counts of Angoulême, from the Germanic space to the Islamic world.

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