Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The archaeological site of Argentomagus, located on the Mersans limestone plateau in Saint-Marcel, dominates the Creuse valley. Occupied since Prehistory, it was a Gaulish oppidum of the Bituriges Cubes before becoming a major Gallo-Roman city, Argantomago, mentioned on the Table of Puisinger. Its theatre, its temples and its walled rampart (I century BC) testify to its strategic importance at the junction of the Central Massif and the Paris Basin.

The first records of the site date back to 1566 in the History of the Berry by Jean Chaumeau. In the 19th century, local scholars such as Brochet de Verigny or Nicolas Ligne explored the remains, but it was in the 1960s and 1970s that excavations intensified under the impulse of Dr. Jacques Allain. The creation of the Association for the Protection of the Argentomagus Archaeological Site in 1962 marks a turning point, leading to the abandonment of a real estate project in favour of the preservation of the site.

The museum, inaugurated in 1990 after rescue excavations led by Gérard Coulon, incorporates an archaeological crypt revealing remains in situ. Ranked "Museum of France" in 2003, it offers a chronological route from the Prehistory (Majdalenian caves of the Garenne, 15,000 years old) to Gallo-Roman Antiquity, with reconstructions (hutte de Lavaud, 1.1 million years old) and local objects. Its contemporary architecture, labeled "Remarkable Architecture" in 2022, marries the remains via accessible spiral ramps.

The excavations exhumed a monumental ensemble: two superimposed temples, a sacred fountain, domus, a basilica, and a sanctuary overlooking the theatre. The city, which had become fabrica armorum (a fabric of arms) in the Lower Empire, was a road junction linked to eight roads, some of which were pre-Romanes. La Creuse, navigable, completed this network. The remains, classified as Historic Monuments since 1964, have since 2015-2019 benefited from landscape developments that set the context of the second century, the height of the site.

LASSAAM plays a key role in research, education and site valuation, supporting Collective Research Projects (CRP) and exhibitions. The museum, the first site of the Centre-Val de Loire, is distinguished by its interactive museum: educational films, manipulations (wax tables, Roman locks), and models of monuments. His journey covers daily life (metallurgy, commerce, funeral rites) and cults, illustrated by a bronze statuette of Mercury.

In 2010-2011, a major renovation modernizes spaces, integrating photovoltaic glazing. The Roman garden, created in 2004 with 150 ancient species, and the gazebo with a view of the excavations complete the visitor experience. The site, now managed by the Communauté de Communes Éguzon-Argenton-Vallée de la Creuse, combines scientific preservation and public mediation, inviting a journey of more than one million years.

External links