rue Juste Olivier

An area of light industry and craftsmen


After clearing a site of its mid 19th century buildings, development of this land in downtown Nyon halted work to allow archaeologists time to explore the area. When the adjacent land was redeveloped in 1989-90, a well and several wooden pipes had been found. With dendrochronology, it was discovered that the wood the pipes were made of had been cut down in in the fall/winter of 19/20 AD, and rebuilt with wood from 30 - 32 AD. Archaeologists think that the area was inhabited by artisans who used hydraulic power, perhaps by placing a mill or water wheel upstream from this site. The area continued to house light industry until the late 20th century.

These photos were taken in December 2003 on rue Juste Olivier, when archaeologists first began to work on the property.
	Across the street, in 2001, drains and pipes, basins and stonework, as well as the grave of an infant, and a tomb stone were found when old buildings were demolished to make way for a modern apartment/office building. Click here to see photos of the tombstone.
By March 2004, archaeologists were investigating more thoroughly.	Click here to read (in French) about this excavation in the local newspaper, La Côte, 4 April 2004. Use Babelfish.com to translate a web page from French to English http://babelfish.altavista.com

A month later, archaeologists were still working.