A thorough investigation of a heritage object
Contemporary with the birth of agriculture in Brittany, the «Couëron» is an oak trunk testifying to a past of 6,300 years, arrived recently within the Minerallium.
Who is it? Where does it come from? Why and how keeping it to present it at the Minerallium?
The Roullier Endowment Fund invites you to discover the meticulous scientific investigation of the Couëron through four video capsules: Discovery, Analysis, Conservation and Restoration, and Installation.
Episode 1 – The Discovery of the Couëron
Found by a farmer in one of his fields in Saint-Guinoux (Ille-et-Vilaine), the Couëron is first of all the object of many interrogations after its discovery.
How old is it? What events allowed it to go through the centuries in order to reach us? What can he tell us about the region and its inhabitants during the Neolithic period?
Discover in video the beginnings of the investigation that it was the subject of in this first episode: The Discovery.
Episode 2 – The analysis
Once discovered, the Couëron is subjected to thorough scientific analyses to learn more about it. What species is it? How long and under what conditions did he live?
In this second episode, two specialists, a xylologist and a dendrochronologist, examine the Couëron to tell us the story of his life, from his birth until his death.
Episode 3 – Restoration and Conservation
After having followed the different stages of his analysis in the previous episode, how will we now be able to keep the Couëron in order to present it to the public?
Episode 4 – The Installation
After having followed the different stages of its restoration in the previous episode, the Couëron is now ready for its return to its original land, Brittany.
Arrived in September 2020 within the Minerallium, it welcomes visitors to the entrance of the exhibition, thus allowing to make the link between living, mineral, and agriculture that it saw born in our region.
