Cet article est l’occasion de dresser un bilan développé et détaillé des principaux acquis sur l’agglomération de Cassinomagus, issus des huit dernières années de recherches. Deux projets collectifs de recherche (PCR) successifs ont en effet conduit à approfondir, voire, dans certains cas, à renouveler les connaissances sur ce site dont la fréquentation semble être attestée dès le second âge du Fer. Une étude diachronique, qui met en œuvre une approche tant globale qu’interdisciplinaire, permet d’aborder l’évolution de la structuration urbaine du site antique. Une organisation fonctionnelle des quartiers, autour d’un réseau viaire bien établi, se dessine ainsi pendant le ier s. apr. J.-C., avec une densification de l’habitat et une diversification des activités artisanales. Le temps fort que représente sa monumentalisation au iie s. apr. J.-C. – s’accompagnant d’une réorganisation du tissu urbain – permet plus largement d’interroger la place de l’agglomération dans la structuration communautaire de la cité des Lémovices. L’agglomération connaît ensuite une lente désaffection amorcée dès le iiie s. apr. J.-C., mais la réflexion sur les effets de sa position frontalière se poursuit grâce aux recherches historiques menées sur la paroisse de Chassenon.
This article represents an opportunity to draft a developed and detailed assessment of the major advances in knowledge, provided by the last eight years of research, and pertaining to the Cassinomagus agglomeration. Indeed, two successive Collective Research Projects (CRP) have deepened, and in some cases even renewed our understanding of this site, whose study dates back to the 18th c., and which is best known for the ruins of the thermal bath building of Longeas, the temple of Montélu and the La Léna theater. Excavations carried out in the eastern part of the site revealed traces of occupation dating back to the Second Iron Age, though it remains impossible to determine whether these vestiges correspond to the origins of the urban concentration that would become Cassinomagus, or whether they are merely indicative of the presence of marginal rural occupation at that time. The site remained occupied at the beginning of the 1st c. AD. And a series of gravel structures, composed of the local substratum, a rock of meteoritic origin were discovered on the southern plateau. In the absence of a broader study of these remains, which were considered only in limited areas, it is difficult to improve our definition of the nature of the occupation of the site during this period. The study of ceramic wares does, however, allow us to conclude that Chassenon was fully integrated within the commercial networks of Western Gaul. In the northern part of the site, the presence of several kilograms of forge waste (slag, hearth walls and metal scraps) and a high density of micro-waste (scales) attests to steelmaking activities, though the location of these installations have yet to be brought to light. After a period of general cooperation, conditions seem to have been right during the second half of the 1st c. AD, and the Lemovices civitas was transformed into a fully urbanized entity. This development was concentrated primarily on the southern plateau of the site. This urban structuring is clearly apparent at the Grand Villard level, wherein housing was densified around a well-defined road network. This expansion was accompanied by a diversification of artisanal activities. It may reflect a functional organization of the different districts and may even correspond to the first major undertakings of the urbanization of the area. The end of the 1st c. AD, or the beginning of the following century, was a pivotal period in the evolution of Cassinomagus, marked by its monumentalization and the restructuring of pre-existing neighborhoods. The Grand Villard area was thus markedly transformed by the construction, occupation and redevelopment of a large building. Its layout and modifications, as well as the care lent to their implementation, as well as its decor would tend to confirm the hypothesis of a ‘domus’, not unlike those discovered in the capital city (Limoges/Augustoritum). This habitat development occurred in parallel with that of monumental ornamentation. The natural topography of the land was, in fact, widely exploited by the builders in order to install a monumental complex. On the western terrace, this complex was composed of a vast place of worship, covering an area of approximately 7 ha. On the eastern terrace, the complex included two semi-detached buildings, to the north of a theater building and, finally, double imperial-style thermal baths at the bottom of the valley. The edge of the southern plateau was marked by the aqueduct installed along a natural break in the landscape. Established according to a veritable urban planning program, the new organization of this space ostentatiously affirms the importance attributed to the gods within the city. The place of worship of Chenevières constitutes a focal point in the west, its height, in terms of topography, having been enhanced by the installation of an artificial terrace. Valuable information relative to the specific divinities belonging to the community of Cassinomagus is also provided to us by a lapidary inscription discovered in the thermal baths in 2012. In this inscription, mention is made to a tutelary god of the Lemovices (Mars Grannus), associated with the Numina Augustorum and a local divinity residing on the periphery (Cobrandia). Previously mentioned in an inscription discovered in Limoges –where its cult appears to have required an abundant use of water–, Mars associated with the epiclesis Grannus may thus shed further light on the latest discoveries within the sanctuary of Chenevières. Indeed, the scenography installed in the eastern part of the place of worship appears, in fact, to emphasize the importance of the liquid component of this cult. Already attested to by their proximity to one another and location along two major axes of communication (the Agrippa and Vienna routes), the connection between Cassinomagus and its capital (Limoges/Augustoritum), is also reflected in their many architectural similarities and in their shared pantheon. The monumentalization program observed throughout this urban zone, for the 11th c. AD, seems to contribute to redefining the limits of the territory of the Lemovices by making of Cassinomagus a sort of “preview” to the Lemovices civitas. In this context, the Chenevières sanctuary, spanning an area of 7 ha, was to play an essential role in community life as a gathering place, but also as a place of expression of the power of men and gods. The city reveals the first signs of abandonment at the beginning of the 2nd c. AD. Despite a fire in the thermal baths in 275-280, the monumental complex still appears to have been occupied, though the space witnessed a shift in function and was primarily used as a recycling site. During the fifth and sixth centuries, habitats associated with granaries were even installed in the ruins of the seaside portion of the city. While no traces of occupation were found after the 7th c. AD in the monumental complex of this urban area, it is possible that the population subsequently congregated around a parish center, where burials from the Early Middle Ages are attested to. The following centuries were little documented by archeology and our primary source of information relative to them come from historical research dating to the 10th c. AD onward. This research reveals a shift in the area of influence of the parish of Chassenon due to its location near the border: long ascribed to Limoges, it passed, at an unknown date, under the influence of Poitou and/or Angoumois. Two lordships attested to from the year 1000 then shared the parish, beginning on an unknown date. The west depended on the castellany or principality of Chabanais, in Angoumois and the east fell under the viscounty of Rochechouart, enclave of Poitou. Beyond documenting these territorial changes in the light of the political and administrative forces at play, the work carried out based on archival sources makes it possible to specify the different types of occupations present within the commune of Chassenon until the 19th c., when the locality assumed its present limits.
