Between 2001 and 2007 seven lime kilns and segments of several paved roads were investigated in Boncourt at the locality Grand'Combes. The lime was used for the construction of buildings. Five kilns were from the Roman period, one from the early Middle Ages, and one from the early modern period. They were dug into a slope and fired from below. The kilns were patched and repaired repeatedly. The raw material, limestone layers, were present directly beneath the forest soil in the surrounding area. The firewood was ubiquitous. Charcoal from the first century AD showed an almost exclusive use of beech. From the second to the fourth century beech and oak were used.
View of one of the lime kilns. Photo: République et Canton du Jura.
Impression of a lime kiln. Demarez et al. 2014, Fig. 143.
Literature
Demarez et al. 2014.
[9-Dec-2023]
