Histoire de Venables
Historical Overview
The rural character of the village of Venables finds its roots deep in its history, beginning with the passage of the first human tribes across its territory during the Upper Paleolithic. By setting foot on what would become the communal land, they contributed to a long process of settlement by successive cultures, ultimately shaping the landscape in which we live today.
It is through the legacy of prehistoric, protohistoric, and ancient civilizations, as well as the various human structures that developed throughout the Middle Ages, that we can understand the creation of the fief of Venables after the year 1000. A name that has endured through history and spread across the world.
The early history of the village of Venables is closely linked to that of its neighboring communities, Bernières-sur-Seine and Tosny. Together, these local histories converge and now form the shared narrative of the territory known as the Commune Nouvelle des Trois Lacs, located along one of the most remarkable meanders of the Seine River.
prehistory
The present-day landscape of the village of Venables took shape during the Pleistocene, a period extending from about 2.5 million years ago to 11,700 years ago. This era was marked by glacial phases alternating with interglacial periods, following a non-linear rhythm.
These geological transformations shaped a landscape composed of a plateau covered with loess deposits, as well as two natural depressions: the Gournay ravine and the Val d’Ally ravine, where the first human settlements appeared. In the valley, a meander gradually formed, consisting of stepped alluvial terraces that accumulated over time as the Seine River progressively carved out its course.
In Normandy, the passage of the earliest human groups dates back to the Lower Paleolithic, around 450,000 years ago. The oldest traces of human occupation in the territory of Venables have been identified through field surveys and archaeological assessments carried out by the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) of Normandy (1).
These traces correspond to the movements of small groups of Neanderthals, associated with the Mousterian culture, the principal cultural expression of the late Middle Paleolithic, around 40,000 years ago. Descended from the lineage of Homo erectus, they settled mainly on the plateau, occupying five sites located on the southern slope of the Gournay ravine, between Le Saussay and Le Vau Genet (2). Two of these sites date from the Middle Paleolithic, confirmed by the presence of Mousterian lithic tools, while three others belong to the Neolithic, as evidenced by their material remains.
These sites correspond to temporary open-air occupations, mainly used as workshops for butchering game and tool production. On this same plateau, another site indicates occupation spanning the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic (between 10,000 and 5,000 BCE).
Climate change gradually transformed vegetation, fauna, and human ways of life. This transition continued during the Neolithic, or “Polished Stone Age.” Populations gradually moved away from the plateau and settled on the terraces near the river, which had once again become favorable due to warming conditions. A surveyed site at Pré Aubry confirmed this hypothesis through the discovery of a pit containing a large number of flint flakes (more than 2,000). These elements suggest prolonged occupation of the site by modern humans (Homo sapiens) belonging to a significant tribal community. Unfortunately, this site did not escape later developments and has now disappeared beneath the waters of the Venables lake. Indeed, the meander underwent major alterations: first in the mid-19th century, with the construction of the Paris–Le Havre railway line, which modified the upper alluvial terraces, and later during aggregate extraction operations. These interventions took place without any preventive archaeological surveys being carried out near the former river channels or close to the riverbed. These discoveries nevertheless confirm the importance of these areas for early human populations, which later became the sites of the future hamlets of La Rive, L’Ormay, and La Mare sous Venables. Such works now limit our ability to better understand these civilizations, leaving them partly in the shadows of research.
We may also mention discoveries made by residents of Venables. Among them are an axe dating from the Campignian period (around 4500 BCE), found near the Seine, as well as several lithic artifacts collected in different hamlets. These objects were generously donated to the exhibition collection “Once Upon a Time, Venables…”
In conclusion, with the development of agriculture, livestock farming, and pottery, a new model of civilization emerged, bringing profound changes in ways of life. Humans began to master their environment, gradually moving from nomadism to semi-sedentary settlement, and from a predatory economy to a productive economy, accompanied by transformations and improvements in tools and technology.
(1) Lionnel Dumarche (DRAC Normandy)
(2) Survey campaigns 1987–1988