CAYRAC, FRANCE—According to a report in the Miami Herald, evidence of a settlement dating to the eleventh and twelfth centuries A.D. has been discovered near the village of Cayrac in southern France. The remnants of the village, including five buildings, 29 silos, and an oven, were uncovered by archaeologists from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research. Several of the buildings contained hearths and silos, while a number of silos were found in the space between buildings. One of the buildings appears to have been a semi-buried cellar. The silos could hold between 100 and 950 gallons. A priory is known to have been present in the area in the late tenth century A.D., and the new findings suggest that the priory was associated with a town that developed in the subsequent centuries. In a separate excavation, two shallow pits and a well that were likely part of an earlier settlement were unearthed. The well was lined with limestone bricks, and the pits contained ceramics dating to the first and second centuries A.D. To read about wall paintings discovered in a Roman city in southern France, go to “France’s Roman Heritage.”
