There was no better place for an exhibition dedicated to objects found in the Seine from prehistory to the present day – by archaeologists or by chance – than the Archaeological Crypt of the Île de la Cité, in Paris. On the one hand, of course, because of its location in the middle of the river, and, on the other hand, because this little-known underground museum is itself an archaeological site. Unearthed in the 1960s when a car park was dug, the periods overlap and intersect, from the quays of ancient Lutetia to the sewers of the 19th century.
Plan of Paris by Truschet and Hoyau, known as the “Basel plan”, published in the middle of the 16th century. CC0 PUBLIC AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF BASEL CITY/KARTENSLG
The bias of the scientific curator of the exhibition, Sylvie Robin, also chief curator of heritage at the Carnavalet Museum, is original: “Questioning what we found in the Seine and on its banks, showing objects documented by archaeological excavations and objects collected in the bed of the river but whose history we do not know: a scientific and another totally random one. » In the first case, research traces the path; in the second, the imagination projects a story…
On the left, statuette of Mercury carrying a purse, symbol of prosperity, copper alloy, Gallo-Roman period. On the right, statuette of Apollo found in the bed of the Seine, copper alloy, Gallo-Roman period. PARIS MUSEUMS/CARNAVALET MUSEUM – HISTORY OF PARIS
The story begins well before Lutetia since a large part is given to prehistory, for example to the remains of this Neanderthal camp unearthed in 2021 on the edge of an ancient bed of the Seine on the site of Clichy-la-Garenne ( Hauts-de-Seine). Our distant cousins stopped there one day, to cut some flints which were probably used to cut up the carcass of an animal. We are further reminded that mammoths regularly frequented Ile-de-France during the Paleolithic.
Pilgrimage sign with the image of Saint Christopher carrying Jesus (13th-16th century). PARIS MUSEUMS/CARNAVALET MUSEUM – HISTORY OF PARIS Marble statue head, 20th century. MARC LELIèVRE/CITY OF PARIS
A wild river like the Loire
The entire rest of the exhibition, dedicated to historical periods, recalls the unwavering link between Paris and the river that crosses it. We must forget the classic image of the Seine, of a domesticated river wisely parked between its quays. Imagine a wild river like the Loire. Sylvie Robin recalls that “the Seine is shallow: it was only navigable six months a year. In summer, we could cross the small arm of the Seine on foot. between the Île de la Cité and the left bank, which was the delight of the “pests”, these ragpickers who recovered metal objects from the mud.
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Many are on display: statuettes of Apollo or Mercury, god of this river trade which made the city rich, ex-votos thrown into the water near Notre-Dame to thank God or attract his graces, weapons of all kinds, religious or secular lead signs (like this badge of freshwater fishmongers representing a female sex), rings too, perhaps thrown away out of amorous spite – who knows? But, in this charming bric-a-brac on which the imagination prances, we do not find the Vélib’ that we expect to see: “There are enough of them abandoned in the streetsexplains Sylvie Robin. I didn’t want to end with an image of the Seine as trash…”
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2024-02-22 13:04:12
#Exhibition #objects #Seine #story #Paris
