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The exceptionally low level of the Loire revealed shipwrecks dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. A godsend for archaeologists.
It is an extraordinary site that twenty archaeologists explore to tell the story of a river, the longest in France. The Loire, extraordinarily low this season, has revealed its buried treasures. A dozen wrecks were discovered on Coton Island (Loire-Atlantique). A rare moment in the career of Anne Hoyau-Berry, head of archaeological operations at INRAP: “When I touch these woods, I love it. It’s very moving, you have the impression that you can come into contact with the man who made these boats, cut the pieces.”
Apart from a few drawings dating from this period, we do not know much about these boats that transported wine, wheat or salt. Pierre Le Fau, Xylologist and wet wood specialist, is there to solve part of the mystery: “We can restore all the gestures of the carpenter, know how he worked, what were his tools.” While waiting to learn more about these boats, the time has come to research, as long as the Loire allows it. By the end of the month, it should return to its normal level and end its exceptional excavations.