Si le village médiéval en France est une réalité admise par tous, ce n’est pas le cas pour celui du premier Moyen Âge, dont le concept même pose question. Pour tenter de comprendre cette différence de traitement, il est proposé dans un premier temps de revenir sur les fondements du débat provoqué par la notion de village au premier Moyen Âge, chez les archéologues et historiens médiévistes, des années 1970 à nos jours. Dans un second temps, les différents critères topographique, quantitatif, économique et sociétal permettant de concevoir le village du haut Moyen Âge sont examinés selon une approche archéologique et illustrés à l’aide de découvertes récentes. Finalement, les problématiques actuelles sur le village, nourries par trente années de recherche en archéologie préventive, sont développées en mettant en valeur deux angles principaux d’approche, à savoir la capacité des chercheurs à identifier des formes, des fonctions et des natures de peuplements distincts et à les analyser en fonction de réseaux inscrits au sein des terroirs.

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Initial findings and early research The first discoveries of early medieval rural settlement remains in France date back to the late nineteenth century. They mainly revealed Sunken-Feature Buildings (SFB) (Vauvillé 1894; Robert 1905; Forrer 1937). It was not until 1949 that the subject of Merovingian settlements was clearly discussed in Volume I of La civilisation mérovingienne written by the renowned scientist Edouard Salin (Salin 1949). In this work, archaeological examples are few and E. Salin primarily relies on written sources and on German examples when referring to dwellings. Some discoveries were mentioned in the 1950s and the 1960s in Alsace, Bourgogne, and Champagne-Ardennes as well as in southern France, particularly at Lombren (Fig. 1) where a hilltop settlement has been excavated (Chamarsson 1962).

The study of the Merovingian landscape allows us to distinguish two important steps in the transformation of the countryside that followed the end of the Roman Empire. The first, which extended from the end of the fifth to the mid-seventh century, attests to three different forms of land use in the countryside transformed by human occupation. It consisted of dispersed habitations that were sometimes located in the immediate proximity of an ancient settlement, a semi-grouped settlement in a loose organization, and finally a more densely organized grouped settlement. This first stage marked the return to construction largely in wood and earth, with characteristic architectural types such as sunken huts. Beyond agricultural activity, rural settlements provide evidence of artisanal activity such as metallurgy. Many changes characterized the second developmental stage (mid-seventh to late eighth century), which marked the end of antiquity. Land distribution was modified, and grouped habitation became the predominant form of settlement. Settlements were organized more clearly, and sometimes sections were specially reserved for artisanal or agricultural activities. It is during this period that religious structures and/or funerary structures were created among the settlements and cemeteries. Some modifications in construction were equally perceptible. The organization of artisanal and agricultural production also saw important changes.

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