The oldest antique oven in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne)

7 July 2025

History & Archeology

at the site of the Saint-Aubin relief well, Inrap archaeologists have unearthed numerous ancient burials. didier Paya, Inrap

Following archaeological excavations at François Verdier station, line C of the Toulouse metro opens a new window onto the ancient city, as Tisséo builds the Saint-Aubin relief shaft. In addition to the remains of a modern street, the site revealed a large number of late-antique tombs and a kiln filled with ceramics dating from the 1st century AD.

Fourteen graves from the ^3rd to ^6th centuries

The archaeologists worked in an area outside the Roman ramparts, known from several previous operations that suggested the presence of the remains of a late Roman necropolis. Unearthed at a depth of 2.5 m during excavation, the ancient level did indeed yield a large number of burial structures, with 14 burial tombs discovered within the right-of-way. Although no evidence of a necropolis was found, the pits, up to 2 m long and 75 cm wide, were organized along two north-south axes. The tombs were made up of wooden planks held together by a few nails (more or less numerous depending on the coffin) and wedged together with fragments of brick or tegulae.

This burial site (13) was partly looted in the early Middle Ages © Didier Paya, Inrap

The majority were adult burials, with a few young children. No funerary furnishings were discovered, with the exception of a coin and a balsamarium found alongside the deceased in the earliest tomb, which can be dated to the ^3rd or ^4th century - pending more precise radiocarbon dating, the others have been typologically dated to the ^4th or^5th century.

it should be noted that one of the tombs was the victim of looting: a pit was dug to reach the skull of a deceased person and remove it. The discovery of a "double hook" staple in the backfill of the excavation may date the gesture to the late ^6th century at the earliest, but the ceramics collected will perhaps enable us to establish a better chronology.

An exceptional oven from the 1st century AD

The second sector of the excavation yielded a discovery as unexpected as it was exceptional. In a layer older than the tombs - the excavation of a burial site during Late Antiquity destroyed part of the firing chamber - Inrap archaeologists uncovered a kiln, designed for firing ceramics.

View of the firing chamber filled with ceramics, dated to the 1st century AD © Didier Paya, Inrap

With an internal diameter of 1.35 m, it is of Gallic construction. As the kiln collapsed during the firing of a load, numerous ceramics, often complete, were found in the laboratory and in the working pit. An initial study of the furnishings indicates that they date from the 1st century AD, making this the oldest ancient kiln discovered in Toulouse.

Uncovering the ancient Rue Riquet

In the layers above the ancient level, at a depth of 80 cm, the most recent remains uncovered were those of a street. It was bordered by a wall that was completely bare at the time of excavation, and regularly relayed by pillars whose foundation bases were revealed.

General view of the furnace at the end of the excavation. didier Paya, Inrap

This modern axis was identified as a portion of the former Rue Riquet, before it was moved westwards. To the west of the excavated area, a modern ditch appears to have preceded the construction of the street. Later, at an unknown time, a new wall was built on the same axis as the old one, even though the street no longer existed. The dating of this wall, visible on the 1830 cadastre, will be refined by studying the furniture of the backfill that supports it.