@ARTICLE{10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.1040, 

TITLE={The wicker fish trap (14th century) discovered in the Iton river at Évreux (Eure), a rare example of eel fishing}, 
  
AUTHOR={Christophe Petit
, Philippe Fajon
, Michelle Elliott
, Margot Langot-Koutsomitis
, Aurélia Borvon
, Clément Menbrivès
, Pierre Wech, }, 
	
JOURNAL={Archaeology, Society and Environment}, 
	
VOLUME={3}, 

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

URL={https://openscience.fr/The-wicker-fish-trap-14th-century-discovered-in-the-Iton-river-at-Evreux-Eure-a}, 
	
DOI={10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.1040}, 
	
ISSN={2752-4507}, 
	
ABSTRACT={Excavations carried out as part of the redevelopment of the Sepmanville Square in Évreux (Eure), led to the discovery of a conical wicker creel intended for eel fishing (length 106 cm, diameter of the entrance neck 26 cm). Made of raw willow (probably Salix alba), it is dated to the end of the 13th century or the 14th century. It very likely was deposited at the bottom of the river, at the confluence of two branches of the Iton, and later it was slightly displaced during a flood. This discovery is a useful addition to the French inventory of conical creels used mainly for eel fishing throughout the Holocene. In the context of a river and at the foot of the city walls, this wicker relic also allows us to address the question of eel fishing for urban consumption in the Middle Ages and in modern times. The presence of this creel supports the archaeo-ichthyological data that have already shown the strong development of fishing during the medieval and modern periods in the cities of the Seine Basin, whose waters had high levels of pollution.}}