Farming in the Bronze Age

Discover plants cultivated in the Bronze Age

In connection with the exhibition Les maîtres du feu

June 13, 2025 - March 6, 2026

The Musée d'Archéologie Nationale - Domaine National du Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is offering, in partnership with the Institut National des Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP) and the Association pour la Promotion des Recherches sur l'Age du Bronze (APRAB), a review exhibition devoted to the Bronze Age in France (2300 - 800 BC).

This exhibition takes place inside the museum and extends into the gardens of the Domaine, which will be decked out in the colors of bronze throughout 2025.

You'll discover numerous areas showcasing the crops in use during this period: new species from sometimes very distant horizons, such as millet domesticated in China, camelina from the Iranian-Anatolian region, or ers from the Near East, as well as wheat, barley and numerous legumes and oilseeds, as well as all the wild plants needed for balanced nutrition or health (acorns, hawthorn, hazelnuts, sloes, apples, rosehips, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries), not forgetting the vegetables, leaves, roots and certain textile, dyeing and craft plants (nettle, lime, wicker) that were widely used during this period.

For this exhibition of a special kind, the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale has enlisted the skills and resources of the AGRO-CAMPUS in Saint Germain en Laye/Chambourcy, as well as the knowledge and expertise of Françoise Toulemonde, Archéobotaniste-carpologue (specialist in archaeological seeds and fruits).

The seeds used come from the ancient seed collections of J.F. Berthellot and Jean-Yves Marc (of the Semences Paysannes network) as well as from the Conservatoire de céréales anciennes d'Arvalis.

From 2024 to 2026, join us regularly as we put this great project into action!