40 ans d'archéologie à Bibracte - 1984-2024
To mark the 40th anniversary of the original archaeological research programme on the summit of Mont Beuvray, on the site of the Gallic oppidum, the Bibracte team is offering a pictorial retrospective of this incredible human and scientific adventure, which is still going strong.
It's an adventure that has mobilised researchers from 14 European countries over the past 40 years, providing them with a formidable arena for methodological experimentation, scientific emulation and training in the various methods of archaeology for several generations of students.
This adventure has been immortalised by Antoine Maillier, Bibracte's photographer, who has been covering the digs since they were first resumed, active both in the field and behind the scenes of the research and events that have marked the establishment.
On the archaeological site and in the museum, the exhibition highlights the main stages in this adventure.
On the site (in the Pâture du couvent picnic shelter, next to the excavation simulators), it illustrates the evolution of the main sectors of the oppidum, as excavations were carried out and the remains developed; it also sheds light on the methods used to locate, excavate, record and protect the remains.
At the museum, the spotlight is on the European Archaeological Centre, which is an operational base for the teams of researchers, a place where the excavation archives are produced and used, a place where the tonnes of archaeological objects discovered year after year are studied and conserved, and a meeting place and training centre for the community of researchers in European Protohistory.