Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Samara Park, located in La Chaussée-Tirancourt in the department of the Somme (Hauts-de-France), is a unique site combining natural and archaeological park. Created on the initiative of the Somme Departmental Council in 1982, it was designed by Bruno Lebel, who became its director in 1994. The park extends over a historic site, the Gallic L'oppidum de La Chaussée-Tirancourt (50 B.C.), and offers reconstructions of prehistoric and Gallo-Roman habitats, as well as artisanal demonstrations (flex size, pottery, weaving).

The project is inspired by the Archeodrome de Beaune and incorporates an exhibition pavilion, designed as a stylized human body with 25 cupolas, as well as a fish-shaped arboretum and a 50 hectare plant maze. The park showcases natural landscapes such as larris (calcareous moors) and marshes in the Acon Valley, protected by Ramsar and Natura 2000 labels. These spaces are home to a remarkable flora and fauna, including rare orchids and protected birds.

Archaeological reconstructions, based on local excavations (Picardia, Île-de-France), include a Magdalenian tent (15 000 years), a Neolithic house (5,000 BC), a Gaulish farm (300 BC), and a Celtic house (600 BC). The park also houses the remains of an oppidum and a megalithic burial of Seine-Oise-Marne culture, discovered in 1967, which contained the remains of 400 individuals. These elements illustrate the human occupation of the Somme Valley over the past 650,000 years, marked by acheulean industries and mesolithic traces.

The site is also linked to the history of prehistory: Jacques Boucher de Perthes, pioneer of this discipline, discovered tools in flint in the 19th century, while the Faubourg de Saint-Acheul à Amiens gave its name to the Acheuleen, a key period of Paleolithic. Samara also provides a framework for experimental and educational research in accordance with the International Charter for the Management of Archaeological Heritage.

In 2013, the park hosted the filming of the documentary Les Saisons by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud. Today, there remains a property of the Conseil départemental de la Somme, offering an immersion in ancient lifestyles, while preserving fragile ecosystems such as peatlands and calcicultural lawns.

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