Découvert dans les années 1970 sur le site palafitte aujourd’hui immergé du Crêt de Châtillon (lac d’Annecy, Haute-Savoie, France), le four de Sévrier, daté de l’âge du Bronze, est considéré comme un des plus anciens fours de potier d’Europe occidentale. Il incarne l’arrivée d’une nouvelle technologie qui marquera la disparition progressive des modes de cuisson en fosse ou en meule en usage depuis l’invention de la poterie. En cette fin de l’âge du Bronze l’acmé de l’art céramique, représenté par les productions de poteries fines, pouvait donc être lié à l’utilisation d’un tel dispositif. Le caractère unique de cette construction en argile, de dimensions modestes et à parois étonnamment minces, réside dans sa conception modulaire et portable. La découverte publiée en 1975 (Bocquet et Couren 1975) recueille aussitôt un échoeuropéen et près de quarante ans après, elle reste pratiquement sans équivalent. L’utilisation de fours de potier à l’âge du Bronze, dans un contexte occidental, demeure pourtant une question ouverte et depuis les années 80, l’interprétation avancée pour le four de Sévrier alimente régulièrement ce débat. L’objectif de cette thèse de doctorat est de porter un nouveau regard sur cet objet de référence quelque peu voilé par sa célébrité et réexaminer les hypothèses fonctionnelles non encore étudiées. Après une présentation du contexte et de l’historique de la découverte, un premier volet aborde différents aspects de l’objet archéologique: sa morphologie, sa conception, sa restauration, son comportement lors d’expérimentations de cuissons de céramiques, ses traits singuliers qui le rapprochent ou le distinguent des fours de potiers plus tardifs ou des structures d’argile à parois fines diversement interprétées. Notre analyse du four de Sévrier comporte trois volets : a) l’inventaire du matériel découvert sur le Crêt de Châtillon et l’intégration éventuelle d’éléments non pris en compte dans la reconstruction, b) une analyse archéométrique (minéralogie des argiles) portant sur les tessons du four et sur des argiles des gisements situés à proximité du Crêt de Châtillon. Une analyse des changements de phases des argiles cuites en fonction de l’intensité de la température, c) l’évaluation de la température minimale et maximale subie par le four afin de confirmer ou exclure certaines utilisations. L’analyse fonctionnelle du four aborde, en premier lieu, l’hypothèse privilégiée, celle consacrée à la cuisson des poteries. Une méthode expérimentale comparative permet de préciser les avantages et inconvénients de différents procédés de cuisson de poteries noires et cherche à évaluer l’apport technologique supposé avoir été introduit par le four de Sévrier. D’autres alternatives sont abordées, en particulier la fonction culinaire. Cette interprétation est confortée par la découverte d’inédits indices d’usages observés lors de cette étude sur des matériels similaires de même époque et provenance. L’inventaire des structures comparables constitue un autre volet de cette recherche. Elle témoigne de l’usage courant des structures de cuisson en argile de faible épaisseur aux âges du Bronze et du Fer. Leur diffusion géographique s’étend des Balkans à l’Espagne et de la Grande Bretagne à la Grèce. Le recensement d’une famille large et multiforme de dispositifs portables en argile à vocation domestique nous permet de poser les bases d’une typologie et de proposer un scénario d’évolution et d’influences entre des régions parfois très éloignées. / This study focuses on a unique archaeological finding from the Crêt de Châtillon, a late Bronze Age lacustrine village situated on a now submerged island in Lake Annecy (Haute-Savoie, France). The Sévrier kiln is considered to be one of the oldest pottery kiln in Western Europe. Over the years it has become internationally known and still forms the basis of research projects and experiments relating to Bronze Age ceramic technology. It embodies the arrival of a new technology that would mark the gradual disappearance of the open fire or pit firing modes that had been used since the invention of pottery. As such, the acme of ceramic art which marks the end of the Bronze Age, may therefore be related to the use of such a device. The uniqueness of this clay building of modest proportions and surprisingly thin walls, lies in it modular and portable design. The discovery, published in 1975 (Bocquet and Couren 1975) soon received a valuable feedback in Europe and nearly forty years later remains virtually unparalleled. However, the use of pottery kilns in the Bronze Age in a Western context remains an open question. Since the 1980s, several arguments will gradually undermine this interpretation. The purpose of this study is to take a fresh look at this inescapable object, somewhat veiled by its celebrity and review functional hypotheses hitherto not studied. After describing the background and the history of the discovery, we discuss various aspects of the archaeological kiln: morphology, design, restoration, use, experimentations and singular features that approximate or distinguish this furnace from later pottery kilns or thin-walled clay structures wich have been variously interpreted. This analysis of the kiln of Sévrier has been threefolds: (a) an inventory of the findings from the Crêt de Châtillon and a discussion about the integration of many components excluded from the reconstruction ; (b) archaeometric analysis (clay mineralogy) of the kiln and the clay deposits located near the site and (c) identification of the changing phases in clays, subjected to high temperatures and determination of the temperature experienced by the furnace. The functional analysis, reviews different hypotheses : (a) pottery firing : a comparative experimental method that aims to highlight the benefits and disadvantages of different processes to produce black pottery. The purpose is to underscore the technological contribution assumed to have been introduced by the Sévrier kiln. (b) Other functional alternatives will be discussed, especially the culinary function. This interpretation is supported by the discovery of unprecedented indices discovered during this study. The inventory of comparable structures is another aspect of this research. The relatively widespread use of such thin-walled clay structures during the Bronze and Iron ages is highlighted. Their geographical distribution extends from the Balkans to Spain and from Great Britain to Greece. The census of a multiform family of domestic portable clay ovens allows us to propose a new typology and a scenario of diffusion between regions sometimes very remote, completes this new outlook and draw new perspectives for the research.

A cerâmica encontrada no sítio arqueológico Cerâmica Preta, localizado entre Camanducaia e Itapeva, Sul do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil, apresenta marcas negras de redução que levaram o autor a formular a hipótese sobre uma técnica específica de queima utilizada por aquele povo que habitou o local preteritamente. O conjunto de fragmentos e as marcas neles encontradas representam os remanescentes de uma técnica morta de cerâmica preta, praticada com maestria e regularidade intencionalmente pelo povo que o produziu. A queima da cerâmica, assim como seu uso ao fogo, deixam marcas de diferentes cores e características nas peças submetidas a estes processos. Relata-se aqui a pesquisa de correlatos entre estas marcas, os processos e comportamentos em que esta coleção de fragmentos cerâmicos arqueológicos participou durante sua produção e uso, sua história de vida. Os parâmetros da arqueologia experimental, com base na teoria comportamental, orientam o desenvolvimento dos experimentos sobre as técnicas da queima redutora em fogueiras. Apresento uma análise do material encontrado no sítio Cerâmica Preta em coletas sistemática e assistemáticas, tendo como foco a marcas de queima, buscou-se reproduzir a morfologia e colorimetria para se entender as condições de sua formação através de experimentações em laboratório e em campo. Obtivemos resultados nas experimentações que foram compatíveis com a amostragem arqueológica tendo sucesso em reproduzir condições de queima, investigando o papel das diversas técnicas possíveis para a situação. Conclui-se, pelos correlatos levantados que as ceramistas que viveram no local do sítio praticavam uma determinada tradição técnica de queima de cerâmica que envolvia o uso de recipientes para conter atmosferas redutoras no sentido de produzir uma cerâmica extremamente reduzida de tamanho pequeno a médio e tendo como produto paralelo uma cerâmica reduzida internamente de maiores proporções que serviu de ferramenta na produção da cerâmica preta. O material arqueológico também indica a utilização de uma segunda técnica de queima que difere da primeira principalmente na forma de colocação das peças na fogueira para a queima. Outras marcas encontradas no material arqueológico sugerem que um tipo de queima seria utilizado especificamente para os vasilhames utilizados como panelas e outro para vasilhas e potes de armazenamento. A ligação encontrada entre as marcas de queima e a utilização posterior dos potes leva a proposição de uma ligação estreita entre a técnica de queima e a cosmologia destes povos. O simbolismo das cores resultantes e das superfícies coloridas remetem ao universo feminino, ao útero que gera a vida, ao pote negro e à inserção desta cultura na ordem do mundo em uma camada entre o telúrico e o celeste. / The ceramic artifacts found in Cerâmica Preta archaeological site, situated at Camanducaia and Itapeva county, at southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil, show reduction marks that led the author to formulate an hypothesis about a specific technique of reducing firing of ceramics, used by the people who lived in this site preteritally. The black marks on the ceramic fabric and the black sherds, are remains of a forgotten technique of black pottery practiced intentionally and skillfully by the people who lived in this site preteritally. Firing of the ceramic and its use on the bonfire as pans, leaves different color and characteristic marks on the tissue of the pieces submitted to these processes. The search for correlates between these marks, processes and behaviors lead to the inference of activities in which the artifacts took part during its production and use. The Experimental Archaeology parameters, based on the Behavioral Theory, guided the development of the experiments on techniques of reduction firing in bonfires. The analisys of the material found in the ceramic site, by systematic and unsystematic search, focusing on the burning marks of which, through laboratory and field experiments, aim to reproduce the morphology and colorimetry, in the way to understand the conditions of its formation. The results of the experiments were compatible with the archaeological sampling and successfully reproduced burning conditions with similar results. The research investigated the role of various possible conditions for the production of black pottery. The correlates found by the research, lead to the conclusion that the ceramists, who lived in the site preteritally, practiced a certain technical tradition of ceramic firing, wich involved the use of containers to retain reducing atmospheres, in the sense of producing an extremely thin black ceramic of small to medium size. This firing has as parallel product, an internally reduced ceramic of greater proportions that served as a tool in the production of black pottery, a sagar. Archaeological material also indicates the use of a second firing technique which differs from the first one mainly in the way the parts are placed in the bonfire, but also in its production and use. Other marks found in archaeological material suggest that the people who practiced this tradition used the pots of one kind of firing as pans and diferent ones for consuming and for storage pots too. The connection found between the firing marks and other, dued to the later use of the pots over the fire, leads to the proposition of a close connection between the burning technique and the cosmology of these peoples. The symbolism of the resulting colors and colored surfaces refers to the female universe, the life-giving uterus, the black pot, and the insertion of this culture into the order of the world in a layer between the tellurian and the celestial.

A cerâmica encontrada no sítio arqueológico Cerâmica Preta, localizado entre Camanducaia e Itapeva, Sul do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil, apresenta marcas negras de redução que levaram o autor a formular a hipótese sobre uma técnica específica de queima utilizada por aquele povo que habitou o local preteritamente. O conjunto de fragmentos e as marcas neles encontradas representam os remanescentes de uma técnica morta de cerâmica preta, praticada com maestria e regularidade intencionalmente pelo povo que o produziu. A queima da cerâmica, assim como seu uso ao fogo, deixam marcas de diferentes cores e características nas peças submetidas a estes processos. Relata-se aqui a pesquisa de correlatos entre estas marcas, os processos e comportamentos em que esta coleção de fragmentos cerâmicos arqueológicos participou durante sua produção e uso, sua história de vida. Os parâmetros da arqueologia experimental, com base na teoria comportamental, orientam o desenvolvimento dos experimentos sobre as técnicas da queima redutora em fogueiras. Apresento uma análise do material encontrado no sítio Cerâmica Preta em coletas sistemática e assistemáticas, tendo como foco a marcas de queima, buscou-se reproduzir a morfologia e colorimetria para se entender as condições de sua formação através de experimentações em laboratório e em campo. Obtivemos resultados nas experimentações que foram compatíveis com a amostragem arqueológica tendo sucesso em reproduzir condições de queima, investigando o papel das diversas técnicas possíveis para a situação. Conclui-se, pelos correlatos levantados que as ceramistas que viveram no local do sítio praticavam uma determinada tradição técnica de queima de cerâmica que envolvia o uso de recipientes para conter atmosferas redutoras no sentido de produzir uma cerâmica extremamente reduzida de tamanho pequeno a médio e tendo como produto paralelo uma cerâmica reduzida internamente de maiores proporções que serviu de ferramenta na produção da cerâmica preta. O material arqueológico também indica a utilização de uma segunda técnica de queima que difere da primeira principalmente na forma de colocação das peças na fogueira para a queima. Outras marcas encontradas no material arqueológico sugerem que um tipo de queima seria utilizado especificamente para os vasilhames utilizados como panelas e outro para vasilhas e potes de armazenamento. A ligação encontrada entre as marcas de queima e a utilização posterior dos potes leva a proposição de uma ligação estreita entre a técnica de queima e a cosmologia destes povos. O simbolismo das cores resultantes e das superfícies coloridas remetem ao universo feminino, ao útero que gera a vida, ao pote negro e à inserção desta cultura na ordem do mundo em uma camada entre o telúrico e o celeste. / The ceramic artifacts found in Cerâmica Preta archaeological site, situated at Camanducaia and Itapeva county, at southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil, show reduction marks that led the author to formulate an hypothesis about a specific technique of reducing firing of ceramics, used by the people who lived in this site preteritally. The black marks on the ceramic fabric and the black sherds, are remains of a forgotten technique of black pottery practiced intentionally and skillfully by the people who lived in this site preteritally. Firing of the ceramic and its use on the bonfire as pans, leaves different color and characteristic marks on the tissue of the pieces submitted to these processes. The search for correlates between these marks, processes and behaviors lead to the inference of activities in which the artifacts took part during its production and use. The Experimental Archaeology parameters, based on the Behavioral Theory, guided the development of the experiments on techniques of reduction firing in bonfires. The analisys of the material found in the ceramic site, by systematic and unsystematic search, focusing on the burning marks of which, through laboratory and field experiments, aim to reproduce the morphology and colorimetry, in the way to understand the conditions of its formation. The results of the experiments were compatible with the archaeological sampling and successfully reproduced burning conditions with similar results. The research investigated the role of various possible conditions for the production of black pottery. The correlates found by the research, lead to the conclusion that the ceramists, who lived in the site preteritally, practiced a certain technical tradition of ceramic firing, wich involved the use of containers to retain reducing atmospheres, in the sense of producing an extremely thin black ceramic of small to medium size. This firing has as parallel product, an internally reduced ceramic of greater proportions that served as a tool in the production of black pottery, a sagar. Archaeological material also indicates the use of a second firing technique which differs from the first one mainly in the way the parts are placed in the bonfire, but also in its production and use. Other marks found in archaeological material suggest that the people who practiced this tradition used the pots of one kind of firing as pans and diferent ones for consuming and for storage pots too. The connection found between the firing marks and other, dued to the later use of the pots over the fire, leads to the proposition of a close connection between the burning technique and the cosmology of these peoples. The symbolism of the resulting colors and colored surfaces refers to the female universe, the life-giving uterus, the black pot, and the insertion of this culture into the order of the world in a layer between the tellurian and the celestial.