Start of production Début du règne d'Auguste (27 av. J.-C.) (≈ 500 av. J.-C.)
Ceramics *terra nigra* gallo-belge
Époque flavienne (69-96 ap. J.-C.)
Change in production
Change in production Époque flavienne (69-96 ap. J.-C.) (≈ 83)
Switch to rough grey ceramics
IIIe-IVe siècles
Abandonment of the site
Abandonment of the site IIIe-IVe siècles (≈ 450)
End of pottery activity
23 septembre 1937
Historical monument classification
Historical monument classification 23 septembre 1937 (≈ 1937)
Official Site Protection
1936-1984
Archaeological excavations
Archaeological excavations 1936-1984 (≈ 1960)
Exploration with site interruptions
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Gallo-Roman potters station (Box B 322 to 325): by order of 23 September 1937
Key figures
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Source text without nominal reference
Origin and history
The Gallo-Roman potters station of La Villeneuve-au-Châtelot, classified as a historic monument in 1937, is a major archaeological site in the south-west of Champagne. Located in the Aube department, close to the Seine and the clay quarries of the Île-de-France, it extends over about one hectare on both sides of a Roman road. This strategic positioning, combining natural resources (clay, wood, water) and communication axes (road, river), explains its importance between the reign of Augustus and the Flavian era.
The site, searched between 1936 and 1984, revealed 18 potter furnaces, drainage ditches, a clay settling pit, suspected drying areas, and 12 wells reaching the groundwater table. Cooking failures, used as embankments, provided abundant archaeological material, including complete vases. The production, initially in terra nigra (Gallo-Belgian ceramic), evolves into a rough grey ceramic from the Flavian era, with various shapes (plates, pots, lamps) and comb decorations.
The ceramics of La Villeneuve-au-Châtelot, diffused locally (notably in Troyes, capital of the Tricasses, and Reims, capital of the Belgic Gaul), bear witness to intense activity in the first and second centuries. The decline of the site occurred in the third and fourth centuries, without the causes being specified. The workshop illustrates the specialized crafts and commercial networks of the Roman Gaul, exploiting local raw materials and inland and river transport routes.
The organisation of the site suggests a division of labour: extraction and preparation of clay (decant), shaping (drying areas), cooking (ovens), and storage (hangars, masonry cellars). The presence of many wells indicates sophisticated hydraulic management, essential for clay work and domestic needs. These developments reflect collective planning, characteristic of large-scale Gallo-Roman workshops.
The designation of historic monuments in 1937 underscores the heritage value of the site, which was recognized as the largest potter's workshop in southwestern Champagne in 2003. His study sheds light on Gallo-Roman ceramic techniques, their limited stylistic evolution, and their integration into regional economies. The remains, although partially preserved, offer a rare material testimony of artisanal activities in Lyon and Belgium.
