Archaeological excavation reports from 1972 and 1983

These major discoveries made it possible to bring the monument’s history fully up to date.

Michel Fixot, emeritus professor of medieval art history and archaeology at the University of Aix-en-Provence, led two archaeological excavation campaigns at the Priory in 1972 and 1983 alongside Isabelle Barbier, now a visual artist. Their remarkable discoveries lifted the veil on the monument’s genesis, its status as a priory dependent on the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille, and its evolution over the centuries that followed the end of Victorine abbey tutelage (including the various transformations made to the monument in the modern period).

The episcopal complex of Fréjus, Bibliothèque de l’Antiquité tardive, 25, Turnhout, 2012.

It was not very easy to publish the excavation of Saint-Symphorien de Buoux just after the publication of the work that gathered the main conclusions of the study of the monument. One reads there the laconic mention that clearly indicates the simultaneity and parallelism of the work. This explains the long delay between the period of excavation (1972-1976) and the moment when this text appears.

Certainly, in appearance, the excavation had its own purpose. But how can one reduce the approach to the site to that of the subsoil while setting aside the study of the elevation? Helped by the chance of other works, the site of Saint-Symphorien offers the opportunity to closely connect archaeology and history. It fits into a historical and monumental landscape that is beginning to be identified for this difficult period at the end of the Early Middle Ages.

In this context, a publication can set itself three essential goals: first, to provide a graphic and photographic dossier complementary to what has already been given. It is also to explain the genesis of the site through the description of the necropolis. On reflection, there have recently been in Provence rather few publications of excavations of rural churches or medieval cemeteries, and in the end very few necropolis sites attributable lato sensu to the Carolingian period. This is why, here again, the graphic dossier presented has been developed. Finally, other interpretations of the elevation were attempted, or at least elements for discussion were provided.

The motivations that led to reopening this somewhat dated dossier are of two kinds: on the one hand, it seemed that publication could have scientific interest and help advance knowledge of a historical period and of an appealing monument; on the other hand, it could once again draw attention to a place that needs a necessary peace for the completion of its rescue and for the desirable continuation of its archaeological study. It seemed indeed that during these last ten years, in the stakes surrounding the monument, its interest and survival were perhaps not always the central concern.

The excavation established that at the origin of medieval occupation, before the construction of any place of worship, the site had already been used for funerary purposes. The mound on which the two churches of the medieval monasterium still stand is precisely an intermediate place. It lies between the abrupt limestone cliffs that form above it the southern edge of the Claparèdes plateau and the dark trench of the Ayguebrun valley. Immediately to the east, the Aurons ravine, cutting into the plateau, is drawn toward the deep depression of the inner Luberon corridor. These natural lines favored traditional routes. The temporary easing of topography explains the use of the site.

Several tombs can be attributed to a necropolis older than the earliest Christian place of worship built here. This place seems indeed to survive, with its original plan, in the form of the north church. Nothing, in fact, allows us to suppose the presence of an earlier building at the same spot. It would moreover be unusual to have a case of sanctuary reconstruction anywhere other than on already consecrated ground. There is therefore no indication authorizing the assumption that the tombs now to be described were located near a church. This is unquestionably a burial anterior to construction. The western wall of the first place of worship is built above it. Its position does not allow it to be considered a privileged tomb placed to the west near the entrance, since it is on the contrary clearly engaged under the southern jamb of the doorway.

The two burials unquestionably belong to a period earlier than the construction of the first church. Moreover, tombs were destroyed on that occasion. The sounding made in front of the southern door of the north church showed, against the rock, scattered bones. But to this first phase correspond at least two other burials linked to the same paving level. This very strong casing is built with slabs arranged in gabled form, making a double envelope. The body had been properly oriented. The right arm was folded in a non-natural way suggesting the constraint of a shroud; the left arm was brought back onto the chest.

Was this small group of four preserved tombs isolated? It already seems likely to complete it with burials that, while being inside the church, show only a very uncertain relation with it, particularly through freedom of orientation relative to the axis given by the architecture. In the western half of the north church, a large uncovered casing was found. Although oriented, its position is clearly oblique relative to the chapel axis. This mismatch seems to indicate anteriority. The low soil depth above the substrate does not allow a stratigraphic conclusion.