@ARTICLE{10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.1028, 

TITLE={Dealing with the Loire River in the beginning of the 17th c.: history and archaeology of the dykes in Saint-Père / Sully-sur-Loire (45, France)}, 
  
AUTHOR={Annie Dumont
, Marion Foucher
, Catherine Lavier
, Philippe Moyat, }, 
	
JOURNAL={Archaeology, Society and Environment}, 
	
VOLUME={3}, 

NUMBER={Issue 1}, 
	
YEAR={2023}, 

URL={http://openscience.fr/Dealing-with-the-Loire-River-in-the-beginning-of-the-17th-c-history-and}, 
	
DOI={10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.1028}, 
	
ISSN={2752-4507}, 
	
ABSTRACT={Between Saint-Père-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire (45), the Loire riverbed has lately revealed three linear infrastructures. The older one, although incomplete, is made of at least three rows of oak stakes, dated from the 13th c. The construction of the two other structures took place 400 years later, at the very beginning of the 17th c. They consist in two parallel rows of stakes with an inner coffering made of planks on edge. These two structures cross the river from one bank to the other before meeting under the left bank, thus forming a huge triangle. After the historical sources, they are interpreted as dykes, built to constrain the Loire River and protect the gardens and castle arranged here by the duke of Sully. The use of the medieval infrastructure remains uncertain, potentially a fishery or boat-mill’s dam. These two sets of constructions belong to very different periods: one known as favourable, the 13th c. climate optimum, while the second meet a dire climate worsening, called the Little Ice Age. Their archaeological, dendrological and historical studies deliver new elements dealing with the river management or wood exploitation and craft in the medieval and modern times.}}