A Middle Neolithic large circular building on the Corent plateau (Puy-de-Dôme) and its archaeological context ; Un édifice circulaire monumental du Néolithique moyen sur le plateau de Corent (Puy-de-Dôme, France) et son contexte archéologique

International audience ; The aim of this paper is to present the preliminary results relating to the Neolithic occupation unearthed during the excavations carried out in 2018 on the Corent Plateau and to replace this discovery in its archaeological context. The archaeological significance of the Corent plateau is known since the 19th century with abundant remains dating from the Neolithic to the Roman period. Neolithic artefacts such as stone axes or flint tools were found during early surveys, but the first important remains, a collective burial containing at least 44 bodies and pottery vessels dating to the Late Neolithic, was discovered in 1969 in the stone quarry on the south slope of the plateau. Neolithic artefacts and part of three parallel palisades were also found in 1992 and 1993 when V. Guichard carried out test trenching in the late Iron Age sanctuary on the lower part of the Corent plateau. During M. Poux's excavations from 2001 on the Iron Age sanctuary, Neolithic artefacts and other sections of these palisades were uncovered and excavations in 2017, revealed their SE-NW orientation. From 2001 to 2016, P.-Y. Milcent and M. Poux excavated Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements over nearly 3 hectares, Neolithic features and artefacts were also discovered. Following on from this, a new research program was set up in 2018 to excavate a circular enclosure previously detected by aerial survey and located 140 meters north of the Iron Age sanctuary. The enclosure was initially thought to be the demarcation ditch of a large Bronze Age or Early Iron Age burial ; however the subsequent excavation of its north-east quarter revealed a large circular feature 20 meters in diameter (227m 2 of internal surface area) dating to the Middle Neolithic. The feature is enclosed by a peripheral ditch 1.10 to 1,30 m wide and 0.70 m deep, dug into the basalt. Massive basalt blocks in the ditch mark probable postholes spaced between 1.40 and 2 m apart. The ditch also has an entrance to the east. Two slit trenches divide the ...