Two farms in activity from the 16th to the early 18th century have been excavated north of Verberie, between the river Oise and the royal forest of Compiègne. Although levelled off, the remains have yielded information about the organization of the farms, their ceramic and metallic utensils (crockery and tools), and some evidence concerning the cattle and the consumption of meat. Limited documentary evidence from the district Archives tends to support the hypotheses concerning the nature and the function of the remains discovered in the excavations and provides the basis for a preliminary historical overview of the environment of these settlements. The two farms did not have the same status, the one being ecclesiastical and the other secular, and they were the subject of successive leases to which only a few references have so far been found in our documentary evidence. Such archaeological examples are rare; they appear to be, on their own scale, typical of the farms in the Valois district during the Modern era, between the crisis of the 15th century and the phase of concentration of the landed property at the end of the 17th century.

Traduction : Margaret & Jean-louis CADOUX