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Origin and history

The Gallic rampart of the Châteliers, located in Amboise (Indre-et-Loire), is a land fortification of 800 m long, built in several phases during the period of La Tene (Antiquity). It delineated in the east an oppidum of more than 50 hectares, potentially the capital of the Gallic people of Turones. This strategic site, which has been occupied since Neolithic, witnessed artisanal, cult and political activities in La Tene finale. The bulwark, partially aladen in the Middle Ages for agriculture, was classified as a historical monument in 1986.

The excavations carried out since 1978, after the piercing of a road through the ramparts, revealed three phases of construction: a primitive nucleus built under the ancient Tena (circa 410 B.C.), defensive elevations at La Tene finale, and a medieval bracing followed by cultivation. The archaeological section shows an initial 10 m wide clay slope, raised up to 10 m high by successive refills. No trace of stone trimming (murus gallicus type) was identified, suggesting a model close to the "Fecamp type" ramparts.

The site, mentioned as early as the 17th century by cartographers like Dubuisson-Aubenay, was already associated by local tradition with the original location of Amboise. Modern studies, notably those of Jean-Marie Laruaz, confirm his central role in the territorial organization of the Turones between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. It was dominated by a rocky spur at 100 m above sea level and controlled the confluence of the Loire and Amass, a key point for trade and defence.

Ranked with their ditches in 1986, the remains are now protected by a fence and shelter covering the 1978 cut. The plateau, grown from the Middle Ages, preserves traces of the archaeological strata under a layer of earth reported (30 to 80 cm thick). Although partially destroyed, the rampart remains a major testimony of Gaulish military architecture in the Centre-Val de Loire.

Bibliographical research, including the theses of Jean-Marie Laruaz and the publications of Cercle Ambacia, underscore the importance of the site in understanding oppida celtics. The objects discovered, exhibited in catalogues such as Ambacia, Gaul (2017), reveal an intense artisanal and political life, reinforcing the hypothesis of a capital for the Turones.

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