Pas-de-Calais le Département

What Pas-de-Calais le Département does

The Direction de l'Archéologie du Pas-de-Calais is a French departmental public service within the Conseil Départemental du Pas-de-Calais, established as the Centre Départemental d'Archéologie in 1988 and accredited (agréé) as a preventive archaeology operator by the Ministry of Culture and Communication in October 2007. It conducts the full archaeological cycle on the Pas-de-Calais territory — preventive diagnostics (approximately 30 per year) and excavations (3–4 per year), scientific study of findings, conservation of departmental collections spanning the Neolithic to the contemporary era (8,000 years of history), and free public cultural programming. Its principal institutional anchor is the 3,000+ m² Maison de l'Archéologie in Dainville, which houses the archaeologist workspaces, the Centre de Conservation et d'Etude (CCE), and an annual temporary exhibition hall; the Direction also stewards emblematic collections from the Biache-Saint-Vaast Paleolithic site, whose 1976 Neanderthal discovery has been researched for 50 years.

The service portfolio includes preventive archaeology for developers and elected officials, conservation and study of departmental archaeological reserves, and a free public-facing programme of exhibitions, workshops, café-archéo sessions, guided visits, school mediations, pedagogic toolboxes, and inclusive programming for medico-social groups. Digital infrastructure comprises a Drupal-based website (archeologie.pasdecalais.fr), a virtual showcase platform (vitrine.archeologie.pasdecalais.fr) developed with CamptoCamp providing 3D and 360° views of collections and past exhibitions, and Matomo analytics. The 2026–2027 SENSationnel Néandertal exhibition at Biache-Saint-Vaast introduces a five-sense mediation design.

The business model is publicly funded rather than commercial. Operating budgets flow from the Conseil Départemental du Pas-de-Calais and the Redevance d'Archéologie Préventive (RAP), a mandatory levy on development projects exceeding 1,000 m² of SHON (€0.68/m² for 2024 pursuant to the Arrêté du 21 décembre 2023), with preventive excavations financed by project developers under contract. All public-facing services — exhibitions, workshops, school programmes, and visits — are free of charge. The Direction partners strategically with DRAC Hauts-de-France/SRA (regulator), CNRS (scientific), INRap (peer national institute), neighbouring departments (Seine-Saint-Denis, Oise, Somme), and regional intercommunalities (Métropole Européenne de Lille, Lens-Liévin, Béthune-Bruay) for collection lending and co-programming.

Name

Pas-de-Calais le Département

Legal name

Conseil Départemental du Pas-de-Calais

Website

https://archeologie.pasdecalais.fr

Company type

Public

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pas-de-Calais Département's Direction de l'Archéologie provides state-certified preventive archaeology diagnostics and excavations across Pas-de-Calais while operating the Maison de l'Archéologie for conservation, research, and free public programming serving residents, schools, and local developers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Archaeology and Heritage Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Museums (712110), Historical Sites (71212), Libraries and Archives (51921)

akta.pro primary industry

Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation) (EDAEAGAJ)

Keywords

• Preventive archaeology
• Archaeological diagnostics
• Heritage conservation
• Public archaeology mediation
• Archaeological collections study

Headquarters

HQ city

Dainville

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Public Funding (Tax & Budget): As a department-level public service, the Direction de l'Archéologie is funded through the Conseil Départemental du Pas-de-Calais budget. Preventive archaeology diagnostics are financed via the Redevance d'Archéologie Préventive (RAP) — a mandatory levy on development projects exceeding 1,000 m² of SHON, subject to declaration, or involving impact studies, with certain exemptions (e.g., surfaces under 3,000 m², socially subsidized housing). The rate for 2024 is set at €0.68 per square meter. In case of advance request (saisine anticipée), the same rate applies. Preventive excavations are financed by project developers/aménageurs through contracts with the operator.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Direction de l'Archéologie du Pas-de-Calais delivers state-certified preventive archaeology diagnostics and excavations across the department, archaeological conservation and study of departmental collections at its Centre de Conservation et d'Etude (CCE) in Dainville, and free public heritage programming including temporary exhibitions, guided visits, workshops, and pedagogical toolboxes at the Maison de l'Archéologie. The unit holds exclusive departmental agrément for preventive operations and runs roughly 30 diagnostics and 3–4 excavations per year, funded by departmental budget and the Redevance d'Archéologie Préventive.

Product overview

The Direction de l'Archéologie du Pas-de-Calais operates a comprehensive archaeology service centered on the Maison de l'Archéologie (3,000+ sqm facility in Dainville) which hosts annual temporary exhibitions and houses the Centre de Conservation et d'Etude archéologiques (CCE) for collection preservation. Core offerings include preventive archaeology services (diagnostics and excavations), educational mediation programs, and the newly launched Vitrine virtuelle digital platform for virtual 360° exploration of collections. The current SENSationnel Néandertal exhibition (2026-2027) marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark 1976 Neanderthal discovery. Services target development professionals, schools, general public, and social/medical institutions with free programming including workshops, guided visits, and loanable pedagogical toolboxes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Preventive archaeology diagnostics
• Preventive archaeology excavation
• Archaeological conservation and study (CCE) Scientific conservation, inventory, restoration and study of departmental archaeological collections housed at the Centre de Conservation et d'Etude archéologiques (CCE) within the Maison de l'Archéologie in Dainville, with research access for the scientific community.
• Temporary exhibitions at the Maison de l'Archéologie

Quantifiable outcome

• 7,086 visitors attended the 'Le Champ des possibles' exhibition
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DRAC Hauts-de-France / Service régional de l'archéologie (SRA)coreTechnology or Integration · 14 November 2026The Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles (DRAC) Hauts-de-France, through its Service régional de l'archéologie (SRA), is the state body that prescribes archaeological operations, maintains the national archaeological map, and exercises scientific and technical control over all operations. The SRA is a key institutional partner for all preventive archaeology work and is a co-organizer of the SENSationnel Néandertal exhibition.
• CNRS (Centre national de la recherche Scientifique)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2026The CNRS is a co-organizer of the SENSationnel Néandertal exhibition. Researchers from CNRS (including Antoine Balzeau, Patrick Auguste, David Hérisson, Marie-Pauline Vignes) serve as speakers for café-archéo events, contributing scientific expertise to public programming around the Biache-Saint-Vaast site and Neanderthal research.
• INRap (Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerINRap is France's national preventive archaeology institute and one of the key lenders of archaeological objects to the 'Le Champ des possibles' exhibition. As the primary alternative operator for diagnostics and excavations in the region, Inrap is both a peer institution and a partner in heritage valorization.
• Département de la Seine-Saint-Denis, Département de l'Oise, Département de la Somme (Somme Patrimoine)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNeighboring departments and their heritage services loaned archaeological objects to the 'Le Champ des possibles' exhibition on Neolithic landscapes and societies, reflecting inter-regional collaboration in heritage sharing.
• Métropole Européenne de LilleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTheMétropole Européenne de Lille lent archaeological objects to the 'Le Champ des possibles' exhibition and collaborates on heritage projects within the Lille metropolitan area.
• Communauté d'agglomération de Lens-LiévinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Lens-Liévin urban community loaned archaeological objects to the 'Le Champ des possibles' exhibition and works with the Direction on heritage valorization in the mining basin territory.
• Commune of Bouchain, Commune of Carvin, Denain Musée d'Archéologie, Étaples-sur-Mer Musée Quentovic, Villeneuve-d'Ascq Parc archéologique AsnapiominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVarious municipalities and local museums loaned Neolithic and other-period archaeological objects to the 'Le Champ des possibles' exhibition, supporting heritage sharing at the local level.
• Communauté d'agglomération de Béthune-Bruay, Artois Lys RomaneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Béthune-Bruay intercommunality organized the 'Le dernier Voyage' exhibition at the Maison de l'Ingénieur in Bruay-la-Buissière, borrowing 15 archaeological objects from the CCE at Dainville to illustrate funerary practices across eras.
• CamptoCampcoreTechnology or IntegrationCamptoCamp developed the virtual showcase platform (vitrine.archeologie.pasdecalais.fr), providing the technical infrastructure for 3D and virtual exhibitions. Key contacts include Pierre Laulhé (project manager), Arnaud Morvan (developer), and Antoine Abt (developer).
• Flore Giraud (Photographer)OthersFlore Giraud provided photography for the virtual showcase and digital heritage documentation of archaeological objects.
• Somme Patrimoine (Parc archéologique et naturel de Samara)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSomme Patrimoine participated in a café-archéo event with Romain Plichon presenting on building a Neolithic house with the public, and collaborated on experimental archaeology and public mediation approaches.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Musée de l'Homme (Paris): The Musée de l'Homme in Paris is a national anthropology museum within the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, focusing on human evolution, prehistoric societies, and biological anthropology. Its scientific focus on human origins and Neanderthal-era research parallels Pas-de-Calais's Biache-Saint-Vaast exhibition programming, though it operates at national scale without departmental field operations.
• Musée d'Archéologie nationale (Saint-Germain-en-Laye): France's national archaeology museum located in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, presenting archaeological collections spanning prehistory through the early Middle Ages. It operates as a broader incumbent in the same heritage/archaeology exhibition space as the Maison de l'Archéologie, with deeper collections but without Pas-de-Calais's departmental field-operation function.
• Musée d'Archéologie de Marseille (Cité de l'Archéologie): The Musée d'Archéologie de Marseille, part of the Museums of Marseille network, is a regional archaeology museum presenting Marseille's rich Greco-Roman and prehistoric heritage. It parallels Pas-de-Calais's Maison de l'Archéologie in combining archaeological collections with public exhibitions and educational programming, though it serves a Mediterranean rather than northern France context.
• Musée d'Aquitaine (Bordeaux): The Musée d'Aquitaine in Bordeaux is a regional archaeology and history museum covering prehistoric through modern periods of southwestern France. It is comparable to Pas-de-Calais's operations in combining permanent archaeological collections, regional heritage programming, and public mediation, but operates as a municipal museum without preventive archaeology field operations.
• Musée de la Préhistoire (Les Eyzies-de-Tayac): The Musée national de Préhistoire in the Dordogne is France's premier museum dedicated to prehistory, located in the Vézère Valley near many of Europe's most significant Paleolithic sites. Comparable to Pas-de-Calais's Maison de l'Archéologie in its prehistoric research and exhibition focus, particularly relevant given Pas-de-Calais's emphasis on the Biache-Saint-Vaast Neanderthal site.

Others

• Réunion des Musées Nationaux et du Grand Palais (RMN-GP): RMN-GP is a French public institution that provides shared services to national museums including ticketing, publishing, and cultural merchandising, and operates the Grand Palais venue. While not a direct archaeology peer, RMN-GP functions as an adjacent enabling institution for heritage exhibitions and museum operations in France, with comparable public-sector cultural mission.
• Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN): The Centre des monuments nationaux is a French public institution that conserves, restores, and manages approximately 100 national monuments open to the public. While not focused on archaeology specifically, CMN operates in the adjacent heritage management space, overseeing prehistoric sites and monuments that often include archaeological components, and shares public-mission heritage management characteristics with Pas-de-Calais's Direction de l'Archéologie.

Direct peers

• INRAP (Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives): INRAP is France's national institute for preventive archaeological research and the primary alternative operator for diagnostics and excavations nationwide. Like Pas-de-Calais's Direction de l'Archéologie, INRAP conducts preventive archaeology operations, studies finds, and disseminates archaeological heritage. INRAP is both a direct competitor on departmental-level operations and a partner institution that has lent objects to Pas-de-Calais exhibitions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pas-de-calais-le-d%C3%A9partement

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Pas-de-Calais le Département