Les quais romains d’Aizier (Eure)

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Localisé sur la rive gauche de la Seine, entre Rouen et Le Havre, le port antique d’Aizier a fait l’objet d’un programme de recherche entre 2005 et 2013. Intégré à la province de Lyonnaise, ce paléoport apparaît bien positionné, en milieu d’estuaire, à proximité immédiate de Lillebonne/Juliobona, chef-lieu de cité des Calètes, sur la rive opposée. À hauteur d’Aizier, sur la rive sud, convergent également deux anciennes voies romaines, celles venant de Brionne/Breviodurum et de Lisieux/Noviomagus. Le site a révélé les vestiges d’un ensemble de terrasses portuaires romaines en pierre observées sur environ 335 m2, matérialisées par de nombreuses reconstructions, en lien avec plusieurs possibilités d’accostage et de tirants d’eau. La position de ce point de rupture de charge antique est intéressante, au regard des occupations romaines attestées à hauteur de cette boucle de la Seine pour la même période, au iie et iiie s. apr. J.-C.

Located on the left bank of the Seine, between Rouen and Le Havre, the ancient port of Aizier has been the subject of a research program between 2005 and 2013. Part of the province of Gallia Lugdunensis, this paleo-port appears to have been well positioned, within an estuary, in the immediate vicinity of Lillebonne/Juliobona, capital of the Caleti, on the opposite bank. Adjacent to Aizier, on the south bank, two ancient Roman roads converge, one coming from Brionne/Breviodurum and the other from Lisieux/Noviomagus. The site has revealed the remains of an ensemble of monumental Roman stone harbor terraces, made of powerful limestone reinforcements. Observed over nearly 25 m in length from east to west, 13.40 m in diameter from north to south, the terrasses correspond to 335 m2 of artificial riverbank attributed to the Early Roman Empire (2nd–3rd c.). The various periods of operation, identified through contact with the Seine River, also reflect a real desire to regularly stabilize an area battered by the hydrological context of this sector. This operation was also an opportunity to shed new light on a Roman iron anchor discovered near the site during 19th c. dredging work. This offloading station thus provides important evidence relative to harbor developments and restructuring, in connection with different berthing solutions and river current realities. The position of this station is also interesting due to its relationship to the Roman occupations attested to and located along this loop of the Seine. The chronological interval recorded on this site also raises the question of a probable riverfront and older harbor occupation in the neighboring town of Vieux-Port.