The archaeological site Creugenat is situated 1 km southeast of the village of Courtedoux, in the Ajoie region (Canton of Jura, Switzerland). It was discovered during a campaign of archaeological test trenching launched by the construction of the A16 motorway and was excavated in two stages between 2000 and 2010. The site lies on the western extremity of a small valley at an altitude of 450 m. The karst spring Creugenat, source of the periodic stream of the same name - in fact the overflow of the subterranean river Ajoulote - is situated 300 m upstream.

The present volume concerns mainly the remains of the early medieval settlement, but some older occupations were also documented. A small building and several ditches date to the roman period, between the end of the 1st century BC and the end of the 1st century AD. A number of finds such as Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bell Beaker flints, as well as several features such as pits and fireplaces dating to the Bronze and Iron ages, indicate that the site was visited at least sporadically during several periods of prehistoric (chap. 3). The traces left by modern works - a drainage system dating to the 18th century and the road leading from Porrentruy to the Haute-Ajoie, with its several improvements - are also briefly described, as they had a considerable impact on the conservation of the older archaeological layers (chap. 1). The geology of the site itself and various observations on the Creugenat, gleaned either from written sources or observed during the recent field work, are presented in chapter 2.

The early medieval hamlet of Courtedoux - Creugenat consisted of two farmsteads and was occupied between the second half of the 6th and the first half of the 8th century AD. The occupation can be divided into three distinct phases. The original 6 th century hamlet saw two major transformations: the first restructuration occurred during the middle third of the 7 th century, the second reconstruction during the last third of the 7 th century. Both farmsteads were transformed. The number of large buildings diminished and a new construction method was introduced: dry stone foundations make their appearance. The southern farmstead was abandoned at the end of the 7 th century; the northern farmstead remained in use for several additional decades, but was also deserted before the middle of the 8th century. The features, the evolution of the hamlet and various comparisons with similar and contemporary sites are presented in chapter 4.

Finds related to everyday activities include pottery vessels (chap. 5), soapstone pots (chap. 6) and fragments of glass cups (chap. 7), but also small domestic objects such as jewellery (glass and amber pearls), bone or stone tools and objects in baked clay, such as combs, needles and spindle-whorls (chap. 8). Several clay objects used during a more specialised activity (crucibles, tokens) were also found (chap. 8). The large variety of metal objects includes tools, buckles and other fittings, weapons and nails (chap. 9). Stone artefacts, such as recycled prehistoric flints, whetstones and millstones complete the list of tools commonly used by the inhabitants of the hamlet (chap. 10). The analysis of tiles and other burnt clay elements furnishes some additional information about early medieval building techniques (chap. 11).

The in-depth analysis of finds related to the working of iron documents the presence of a small but specialised high-quality production of iron objects on site (chap. 12). The animal and plant remains (chap. 13 and 14) speak of a diversified agricultural production by well-off farmers. Finally, the micromorphological analysis of nine sunken-featured buildings reveals evidence about floor construction and reuse (chap. 15). The volume concludes with a general synthesis (chap. 16).

Translation: Robert Fellner