Céramiques et verres mérovingiens dans la vallée mosane. Apports de l'archéologie et de l'archéométrie à l'histoire économique, sociale et culturelle

Thank to an interdisciplinary approach involving archaeology and scientific analysis, Merovingian ceramic and glass found in the Meuse-valley have been studied. This approach allowed us to elaborate a typochronology for these type of artifact and moreover to shed some light on the history of craft, economic aspects and the cultural impregnations of this particular time. Aside from the darkness that can be associated to this period, Merovingian craftmen still mastered specific skills and technological evolutions took place. Until the middle of the VIth century, trade networks were not abandoned. For glass production, raw material seems to be imported from Mediterranean regions and glass final products as well as clay vessels were still exported at a regional scale. Between the end of the VIth and the VIIth century, glass becomes rare and new types of ceramic locally made appears. In cemeteries, living settlements and productions sites, both crafts underline economical and cultural modifications in the Meuse-valley. Finally, at the end of the Merovingian period, ceramic and glass reflect new consumption’s behavior that came into sight announcing the transition to the Carolingian world.