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Henri Galinié

b. 1946

French archaeologist

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About Henri Galinié

Born 1946. Henri Galinié is a French archaeologist and university teacher.

Henri Galinié is a French archaeologist specializing in antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the transition between these two periods. He is also one of the promoters of the special status of urban archaeology.

Since his retirement, he has devoted himself to the historical study of grape varieties in France, particularly in the Loire Valley.

Biography and work Born on 2 March 1946 in Nouméa (New Caledonia), Henri Galinié moved to metropolitan France in 1959. After studies at Paris (Sorbonne) and Caen, he earned a PhD in History from the University of Caen in 1981, based on a thesis on the topography of Tours from the 4th to the 11th century. In parallel, he trained in archaeology at Winchester (Hampshire, United Kingdom), where he participated in the excavation of Wolvesey Castle under the direction of Martin Biddle.

Galinié settled in Tours in 1970. After eight years teaching at the University Institute of Technology in Tours, he joined the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Since 1992, he has taught archaeology at the University of Tours, and he has supervised numerous PhD theses in History. (Jean-Mary Couderc, quoted by Pierre Audin, described him as the "mastermind of the urban archaeological revolution in Tours"), Galinié founded the Urban Archaeology Laboratory of Tours (LAUT) in 1973; in 1984, the LAUT became the National Center for Urban Archaeology (CNAU), under the Ministry of Culture, and Galinié directed it from 1984 to 1992. This structure was then replaced by the Archaeology and Territories Laboratory (LAT), a CNRS unit that later became joint with the University of Tours, following a collaboration between the CNRS and the university; Galinié led it until 2003. With the same objective, he organized the first International Colloquium on Urban Archaeology in Tours from 17 to 20 November 1980, at the request of the Ministry of Culture.

A field archaeologist, he led numerous excavations in Tours and Touraine, including:

1969–1974: Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier (Tours) 1974–78: Château de Tours (Tours) 1978–82: Departmental archives (Tours) 1979–82: Cloître Saint-Martin (Tours) 1995–2001: Rigny-Ussé 2000–2003: Square Prosper-Mérimée (Tours)

He is also known as an author, co-author, or editor for his articles and books on the ancient and medieval city of Tours and for his contributions to understanding the Antiquity/Middle Ages transition in urban settings (the archaeological concept of dark earths ):

A more complete list of publications is available in the Base Malraux (Ministry of Culture).

He created the archaeology journals Recherches sur Tours ( published between 1981 and 2014), À propos d'archéologie urbaine, and relaunched the Revue archéologique du Centre de la France.

At the end of the 2008 academic year, due to retirement, Galinié left teaching and the CNRS with the title of honorary research director. He continues to publish articles and excavation reports, and devotes himself to retrospective ampelography, particularly in Touraine via a blog, and more broadly for France through several publications, including the transcription of L'enquête de Nicolas Dupré de Saint-Maur pour fixer la nomenclature de la vigne (1782–1784) and coordination of the CepAtlas project.

Publications Publications by Henri Galinié (listed as H. G. in author lists).

1974–1980

1981–1990

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
University of Paris, University of Caen Normandy, University of Winchester
Positions held
Director of Research at CNRS
Employers
IUT de Tours, Tours University

People in Henri Galinié's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Henri Galinié's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Henri Galinié?

French archaeologist

When was Henri Galinié born?

Henri Galinié was born on 2 March 1946 in Nouméa.

What is Henri Galinié's occupation?

Henri Galinié is an archaeologist and university teacher.

What nationality is Henri Galinié?

Henri Galinié is French.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Henri Galinié

· Wikidata: Q18613165

· DBpedia: Henri Galinié

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Henri Galinié. https://biography.guide/henri-galinie/

MLA: "Henri Galinié." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/henri-galinie/.

Chicago: "Henri Galinié." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/henri-galinie/.

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