The museum

uring archaeological excavations, very quickly we had the idea of creating a museum and to present the findings to the general public.

Archaeologist volunteers, under the leadership of their President, Alain Nice, established contacts with a local municipality, in Marle, large village of 2500 inhabitants.

Mayor Yves Daudigny got immediately excited about the idea of creating a museum in his town. He gave himself the means, convinced his city council and disbursed the funds.

In June 1991, the Museum of Dark Ages, with a official deposit excavations, was opened to the public in a old watermill. Before being a museum, this place was a banal mill, which belonged to the estate of Marle. It has been built in XII century and was ravaged by the force of water in 1750. It was restored later.

By visiting this museum, spread over two levels, the visitor is immersed in the atmosphere of the time, the archaeological context: an audiovisual show, with great precision and detail, explains the history of the excavations of the cemetery and of the living.

The museum presentation is clear, associating objects, reconstructions, models and explanatory signs. Such a presentation allows the visitor, specialist or not, to discover this period known as "barbaric" or to go into their knowledge in detail.

Sarcophagus cover

This piece was the first discovered on the site by our farmer and is the origin of all our adventure.

This cover is decorated, which is quite rare: the deceased was probably of high social rank. This sarcophagus is at the origin of the discovery of the necropolis.

On the sides of the coverthe marks of plowshare shots are visible.The design is typically Christian (cross-decorated bones of fish) and animalist (stylized serpents) which indicate the remains of Germanic mythology (the serpent symbolizing the underworld, the world of the dead). The person buried in this sarcophagus was probably becoming Christian..

In the sixth century AD, in the countryside of Gaul, the pagan customs persist, and evangelism begins slowly with the seventh century.

Fibulae

Three fibulas "aviformes" (in form of bird) in gold, mounted on a turntable in bronze, and decorated with filigree and precious stones like garnets. These are real jewels:

Other items ...

For example, this stele of birds illustrated on the left, decorated on three sides by geometric motifs and animal (doves?). Some experts suppose that this stele was a "raven" (architectural element supporting a beam), which could mean that there was a solid edifice near the necropolis (burial chapel).

Weapons, tools, jewelry, objects of adornment, pottery, keys, scissors, human and animal bones ... the Museum of Marle is rich in remains to reconstruct the daily life of peasant-warriors who lived on the site of Goudelancourt lès Pierrepont.

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