Holocene palaeoenvironmental history and the impact of prehistoric salt production in the Seille Valley, Eastern France

The Seille Valley in eastern France was home to one of Europe’s largest Iron Age salt industries. Sedimentology, palynology and geochronology have been integrated within ongoing archaeological investigations to reconstruct the Holocene palaeoenvironmental history of the Seille Valley and to elucidate the human–environment relationship of salt production. A sedimentary model of the valley has been constructed from a borehole survey of the floodplain and pollen analyses have been undertaken to reconstruct the vegetation history. Alluvial records have been successfully dated using optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon techniques, thereby providing a robust chronological framework. The results have provided an insight into the development of favourable conditions for salt production and there is evidence in the sedimentary record to suggest that salt production may have taken place during the mid-to-late Bronze Age. The latter has yet to be identified in the archaeological record and targeted excavation is therefore underway to test this finding. The development of the Iron Age industry had a major impact on the hydrological regime of the valley and its sedimentological history, with evidence for accelerated alluviation arising from floodplain erosion at salt production sites and modification of the local fluvial regime due to briquetage accumulation on the floodplain. This research provides an important insight into the environmental implications of early industrial activities, in addition to advancing knowledge about the Holocene palaeoenvironmental and social history of this previously poorly studied region of France.

Regional implications of macro-economic, sectoral and company changes in the development of technopoles in Britain and France

This paper reports the proceedings of a conference held at Reading University in 1993 which addressed the issues of new technological developments at the regional and sub-regional levels in Britain and France. These new technological clusters - the `Technopoles' - are investigated in a series of papers in both English and French which examines their spatial, sectoral and economic aspects to determine what lessons can be learned from their development and what their future economic significance is likely to be. Two recurring themes are of particular significance in the papers - the link between R& D and regional development, and the different forms which innovation assumes within the various technopoles under scrutiny.

‘The Apostolate of the Pen’: Mgr De Ségur and the mobilization of Catholic opinion in Second Empire France

This article contends that the papacy and ultramontane Catholicism played a pivotal role in the democratization of culture in Second Empire France. Drawing upon recent scholarship, which argues that religion played an important role in the constitution of mass democracies in modern Europe, this article revisits the pamphlet campaign led by Mgr Gaston de Ségur at the height of the Italian question in February 1860. Ségur made the most of the freedom of expression enjoyed by the Catholic Church in France in an attempt to direct Catholic opinion, and place pressure on the French government over its diplomatic relations with the pope. New archive material, notably Ségur’s correspondence with the leading Catholic journalist of the time, Louis Veuillot, sheds further light on Rome’s interventions in French culture and politics and its consequences. The article demonstrates that one of the most important, if unintended, results of the ultramontane campaign was to trigger reforms to the cultural sphere, and the granting of freedoms to their political enemies: the Republicans and freethinkers.

‘New World and Old Europe: American Screen Images of Britain and France‘

Contrary to the dearly held belief by Britons that among the nations of the world, they are the favourites of the Americans, Holliwood movies show that even today, judging by the accents of "baddies", the English incarnate the arch-enemy. French villains come a close second. Britain and France are the reactionary, corrupt "old Europe" from whom the Americans tried to cut away ever since 1775, and it is actually the Central-East European countries who as "new Europe" enjoy greater popularity as bearers of hope.

Klaus - an exceptional winter storm over northern Iberia and southern France

The synoptic evolution and impacts of storm ‘Klaus’ that affected Europe on 23–24 January 2009 are assessed. Klaus was the costliest weather hazard event worldwide during 2009. Peak wind gusts reached 55ms-1 (107kn), accompanied by heavy rain, snow and flooding across Northern Iberia and southern France. Klaus underwent explosive development between the Azores and the Iberian Peninsula at an unusually low latitude. This development was supported by an extended and intense polar jet across the North Atlantic Basin, strong upper-air divergence associated with a second jet streak and an extraordinary export of tropical moisture into the genesis region. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society

Oppida, agglomerations and suburbia: the bibracte environs and new perspectives on late Iron Age urbanism in central-eastern France

This paper explores the nature and chronology of La Tène and early Roman unenclosed agglomerations in central-eastern France. It has been prompted by the discovery of a c. 115 ha La Tène D2b/Augustan (c. 50 bc to ad 15) site close to Bibracte in the Morvan, located around the source of the River Yonne. This complex provides a new perspective on the chronology and role of Late La Tène and early Roman unenclosed settlements, adding further complexity to the story of the development of Late La Tène oppida. It indicates that these ‘agglomerations’ followed remarkably varied chronological trajectories, raising important issues concerning the nature of landscape and social change at the end of the Iron Age. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht den Charakter und die Datierung von latènezeitlichen und frührömischen offenen Siedlungen im östlichen Zentralfrankreich. Die Anregung dazu erfolgte durch die Entdeckung einer Latène D2b-zeitlichen bis augusteischen (ca. 50 v. Chr. – 15 n. Chr.) Anlage im Morvan bei Bibracte, die ca. 115 ha Fläche bedeckt und sich um die Quellen des Flusses Yonne erstreckt. Es wird vorgeschlagen, dass dieser Siedlungskomplex eine Ergänzung, aber auch einen Kontrast zu den üblichen Interpretationsmodellen von spätlatènezeitlichen und frührömischen, offenen Großsiedlungen und ihrer zeitlichen Entwicklung darstellt, und weiter zur Komplexität der Entwicklung spätlatènezeitlicher Oppida beiträgt. Es deutet sich an, dass einige der ‘Agglomerationen’ anderen Entwicklungslinien folgen, die wichtige Fragen zur Landschaftsgenese und zum sozialen Wandel am Ende der Eisenzeit aufwerfen. Cet article a pour but d'explorer la nature ainsi que la chronologie des agglomérations ouvertes apparaissant à La Tène Final et au début de la période gallo-romaine du Centre-Est de la France. Il fut inspiré et écrit suite à la découverte dans le Morvan d'un site de 115 ha datant de La Tène D2b et de la période Augustéenne (50 av. J.C. à 15 ap. J.C.) s'étirant autour des Sources de l'Yonne. Cette agglomération apporte de nouvelles perspectives sur la chronologie et sur le rôle des habitats ouverts à la fin de l'Âge du Fer ainsi qu'au début de l'époque gallo-romaine apportant des éléments amenés à renforcer le caractère complexe de l'histoire du développement des oppida à La Tène Final. Cette synthèse tend à démontrer que ces agglomérations suivaient des trajectoires chronologiques variées, élevant un certain nombre de questions, et donc des nouvelles problématiques, concernant la nature du paysage et du changement social à la fin de l'Âge du Fer.