# Inrap archaeologists find over 800 structures at Ruyaulcourt ahead of Seine-Nord Europe canal works

- Published: 2026-11-15 17:17 UTC
- Section: Science › Research
- Tags: Ruyaulcourt excavation, Inrap, Seine-Nord Europe canal, preventive archaeology, La Tène, Roman rural site, forge slag, child burial, Pas-de-Calais archaeology
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-ef385f54b33f52e913ada758_inrap_archaeologists_find/

**Excavation on 13.2 hectares in Pas-de-Calais covered nearly a millennium of rural occupation, from storage pits to forge waste and a child's burial.**

![Inrap archaeologists find over 800 structures at Ruyaulcourt ahead of Seine-Nord Europe canal works](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/21c85d7ce663c0dd.webp)
*science-et-vie.com*

Archaeologists from Inrap, the French national institute for preventive archaeological research, have excavated a site at Ruyaulcourt in Pas-de-Calais ahead of work on the Seine-Nord Europe canal, science-et-vie.com reports. Over 13.2 hectares they recorded more than 800 structures, dating from the end of the Bronze Age to the Late Roman Empire [1]. The scientific lead is Frédéric Simon [1]. Ditches, silos, a cellar, wells, tombs and forge waste trace nearly a millennium of rural occupation [1].

## Farming, storage and metalworking

The site lies on a slight rise between two dry valleys. Inrap distinguishes two main sectors, north-east and south-west, about 300 meters apart [1].

Already in early La Tène (480 to 250 BC), the archaeologists found food storage areas set in semi-circular enclosures. From middle and late La Tène (250 to 25 BC), a path appears in the north-east, while the south-west gains several enclosures and structures linked to mixed farming and livestock [1]. Silos and storage spaces are present from the first phases of occupation [1].

The south-west sector contains enclosures, pits and granaries. In several structures there, Inrap reports a large spread of slag, forge waste dated mainly to the 2nd and 3rd centuries, which points to craft activity [1]. In the High Empire the archaeologists also identified large pits and possible material-extraction wells [1].

## Roman-period occupation and a child's burial

According to the Inrap statement, occupation became denser in the High Empire [1]. One of the more significant ensembles combines a cellar with a lined well, whose walls were reinforced for stability [1]. Finds include ceramics, coins and a furniture appliqué showing the face of a Gorgon or Medusa [1]. A pit also yielded metal remains that may come from a cart body, along with a wheel hub and a balance beam [1]. Occupation continued into the Late Empire, with a phase still visible in the 4th century, and then appears to decline [1].

The site has two funerary areas, in the north-east and the south-west, organized differently [1]. In the north-east, several burials of the 1st century AD lie close to an old path [1]. One of them holds a child under two years old, buried with a terracotta statuette of an embracing couple [1]. Depending on interpretation, the figurine may represent the child's parents [1].

The second group of burials lies 40 meters south-east of the first and is not aligned along the road [1].

## Sources

1. [science-et-vie.com](https://www.science-et-vie.com/science-et-culture/en-pas-de-calais-sur-le-chantier-dun-cours-deau-artificiel-ils-decouvrent-800-vestiges-qui-nous-racontent-la-vie-rurale-menee-il-y-a-2500-ans-232298.html)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-ef385f54b33f52e913ada758_inrap_archaeologists_find/