France

The ideas of how lake dwellings were like have shifted dramatically during the last century. In the Jura area in France, two lakes near each other were found out to reveal a large quantity of relatively undisturbed material on those dwellings. A fight begun between the archaeologists and those who wanted to make nice tourist beaches out of these lakes.

With a preparation time between 1988 and 2001, the municipality of Villeneuve d’Asq aimed for an important and attractive open air museum. Here, based on general information instead of specific sites, prehistoric and medieval houses are presented as well as the people constructing them and living there.

In the "Nord" départment, you will find a Gaul / Merovingian / Carolingian “archéosite”. Following archaeological research in the area, this archaeological open air museum came into existence in 1982.

As early as 1840, Neolithic grave mounds or tumuli were excavated near Bougon leading to what at present is a museum about life and death in the Neolithic Age and beyond. The museum is built around the remains of an old monastery but has a modern look and interior.

Following decades of archaeological excavation in the Talou region (reported about 1,000 archaeological sites), local archaeologists and enthusiasts founded Fatra (Fédération des Archeologues du Talou et des Régions Avoisinantes) in 1999.

The French-German border cuts straight through a complex of archaeological sites, most of which date to the Iron Age & Roman Era. A perfect occasion to explain that our present borders are in our minds, not in reality. Archaeologist Jean Schaub founded the European Culture park at both sides of the border – in France at Bliesbruck, in Germany at Gersheim-Reinheim.

Near the Dordogne valley, a Bronze Age settlement was found at the foot of the Beynac castle. Once excavated, this site was turned into an archaeological open air museum, run by the Museum Association of the Sarladais area.

The Musée des Temps Barbares (museum of the Dark Ages) in Marle focuses on the Merovingian Era. The museum is situated in the Aisne area and has both an indoor museum in an old watermill and a vast outdoor archaeological park with an enormous amount of reconstructed small houses.

The Samara, an environmental and reconstruction park was realised by the Ministry of Culture, the Picardy province and the bank Credit Agricole. It had a predecessor at the Val d’Aisne. One of the reasons to establish this museum was the creation of employment by means of tourism – the Somme area has a long history of unemployment.