ALLUVIAL BUILDING IN THE SALANQUE LOWER PLAINE (ROUSSILLON, FRANCE) DURING THE SECOND PART OF THE HOLOCENE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

The systematic monitoring of rescue archaeology excavations coupled with a series of cores carried in the context of a Collective Research Programme founded by Ministery of Culture, helped to reconstruct the evolution of the northern part of the Roussillon plain, the Salanque, between the Middle Bronze Age and the Modem period. Four main lobes are identified: in the south the Torreilles lobe was active since at least the Middle Bronze Age to the end of the Roman period. It was abandoned in favour of Saint-Laurent lobe, which is functional between the end of the fourth to the ninth century AD. Geoarchaeological data from these sources and historical data allow us to date the establishment of the Saint-Hippolyte lobe between the tenth century and the second half of the thirteenth century. This lobe was abandoned around 1279-1280 AD. Finally, the Barcares lobe developed from the fourteenth century. Artificial levee and dike built since 1334 AD on the Agly River contributed to fix this single lobe since the Little Ice Age. The age and location of archaeological sites is thus strongly correlated with lobe ages and with associated alluvial sedimentary processes that led to site burial or destruction.