Cremations

Located South of Arlon, the cemetery of Messancy is one of the biggest Early Roman cemeteries in Wallonia (Belgium) ever excavated during the last thirty years. It holds 196 cremation graves. The cemetery was occupied from the second quarter of the 1st century AD until the beginning of the 3rd century AD.

Une fouille d’archéologie préventive réalisée dans le cadre du programme de requalification des quartiers sud de la ville d’Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), sur une parcelle destinée à accueillir le futur conservatoire de musique et de danse, a mis au jour un ensemble de tombes à crémations secondaires attribuables au début de l’âge du Bronze final. Cette découverte illustre une pratique peu documentée dans la moitié sud de la France à cette époque. Les fosses sépulcrales, de petites dimensions, abritent exclusivement l’urne cinéraire, laquelle contient les restes osseux d’un seul individu, sans aucun résidu du bûcher crématoire, ainsi que parfois de petits fragments d’os de faune. En ce qui concerne le mode de fermeture des tombes, il faut restituer un système aménagé avec un petit tumulus de galets reposant sur la couverture de l’ossuaire lui-même, une lauze calcaire dans un cas et des protections en matériau périssable pour les trois autres. La présence de ces petits tertres recouvrant la fosse sépulcrale peut, par ailleurs, être interprétée comme un dispositif de signalisation. Il faut enfin mentionner la présence d’une jarre écrasée en place, à proximité de l’une des tombes, interprétable comme un dépôt funéraire. L’étude anthropologique indique une collecte partielle des restes osseux sur la structure primaire de crémation. On observe cependant une grande variabilité entre les différentes tombes quant à la masse prélevée et quant à la sélection des segments anatomiques. La typologie des urnes les place dans une phase avancée du Bronze final I, au xiiie siècle avant J.-C., ce que confirment en partie des datations 14C effectuées sur les carbonates présents dans les os brûlés. D’autre part, l’étude des gestes funéraires concourant à la structuration des tombes montre une parenté certaine avec les nécropoles contemporaines, datées du Bronze récent II, du Nord-Ouest de l’Italie et en particulier avec le cimetière de Canegrate en Lombardie. Ce nouvel ensemble funéraire vient donc confirmer une origine transalpine de la pratique de la crémation dans le Sud-Est de la France au début du Bronze final. Il en constitue par ailleurs le témoin le plus occidental. Contrairement aux découvertes de Provence orientale, la nécropole du Conservatoire présente toutefois la spécificité de se trouver dans une zone où l’impact des traditions céramiques d’Italie du Nord est beaucoup moins marqué dans la culture matérielle. Si la pratique funéraire identifiée est d’affinité italienne, les urnes s’inscrivent plutôt dans une tradition stylistique locale. On assiste donc à une acculturation partielle, qui illustre bien le caractère tampon de la région bas-rhodanienne durant cette période, qui se trouve aux confins des influences des cultures du Nord et du Sud des Alpes.Cette découverte invite enfin à s’interroger sur la place de la crémation au sein des pratiques funéraires des populations méridionales au début du Bronze final. En effet, les rares sépultures de ce type étaient exclusivement connues dans les régions alpines, proches de l’Italie. Si bien qu’elles avaient pu être interprétées comme des tombes de défunt au statut particulier ou comme le résultat de mobilités individuelles. On peut à présent se demander si la documentation actuelle est proche de la réalité, ou si elle ne dépend pas au contraire d’une difficulté à identifier les petits ensembles funéraires du type de celui mis au jour à Aix-en-Provence.

The urban requalification of southern areas of the city of Aix-en-Provence led to an archaeological excavation on a plot where the future academy of music and dance (‘Conservatoire’) is to be built. It brought to light five secondary cremation graves which can be dated to the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. This discovery illustrates a specific practice not very well-known in Southern France for that period. These small graves each contained only a funerary urn in which were found the remains of a single individual, sometimes accompanied by small fragments of animal bones but without any trace of the funerary pyre. The graves are sealed by a sort of pebble tumulus which rests upon the cover of the funerary urn, made of a small limestone slab in one case and probably of some perishable material in three other cases. These small mounds could also be interpreted as visual marks for the location of the graves. A crushed pot close to one of the graves may also be considered as a funerary deposit. Anthropological studies show that the bones were partially collected from the primary cremation structure. However, great variability can be observed between the different tombs regarding the quantity of bones and the anatomical parts selected. The typology of the urns indicates that they belong to an advanced phase of the Late Bronze Age I, 13th century BC, which is confirmed by 14C dates from the carbonates remaining in the burnt bones. The study of burial behaviour regarding the structure of the
tombs reveals similarities with contemporaneous cemeteries in north-western Italy dated to the Late Bronze II and, in
particular, with Canegrate in Lombardy. This new funerary group thus confirms the Transalpine origin of the practice of
cremation in southern France at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age and constitutes its most western example. Unlike
other cemeteries discovered in eastern Provence, the "Conservatoire" cemetery is located in an area where the influence of
northern Italian ceramic productions is less important. While the funerary practices are related to Italian practices the urns
themselves belong to the local style. It is the sign of a partial acculturation, testifying that the lower Rhone valley at that
time was a buffer zone between traditions found to the North and the South of the Alps. Finally, this discovery invites us
to question the importance of cremation in the funerary practices of southern populations at the beginning of the Late
Bronze Age. Indeed, until now, the few graves belonging to this type were only known in the Alp regions, close to Italy.
They were thus interpreted as linked to a specific status of the deceased or as the result of individual mobility. Now,
we may wonder whether the data available reflect reality or whether they depend, on the contrary, on the difficulty of
identifying small funerary groups such as the one unearthed in Aix-en-Provence.

This paper presents findings within Wyman Abbott's long-missing notebooks and other allied archival sources relating to his Fengate fieldwork during the early decades of the 20th century. Largely focusing upon its monuments, we here publish a manuscript concerned with his multiple-interment 'great' ringditch which is otherwise known from a paragraph's description in Hawkes and Fell's Antiquaries Jourual paper of 1945. Not only do these sources contribute to the further reconstruction of Fengate's renowned Bronze Age landscape, but, it is argued, the centralised multiple-lineage interment evident at his main ring-ditch site may well reflect upon the social organisation which also gave rise to Pryor's equally 'special' Flag Fen platform.

In this study, 105 human samples (46 crematoriums, 37 from controlled experiments and 22 archaeological cremations) were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance (ATR-IR) to highlight possible chemico-physical differences, in terms of mineralogical phases, crystallinity and spectral properties.

The Saint-Vérant site in Saint-Paul-lès-Romans (Drôme) is the first cemetery from the late Iron Age to be studied with archaeological methods in the Isère lower valley, which was probably a border region during the 3rd century BC between Allobroges and Segovellauni. After the rescue excavation in 2013 of a large Middle Age site, a part of the Protohistoric cemetery was analyzed. With twenty-eight graves, of which fifteen have dated objects, the site belongs to the La Tene material culture (LTB1b-LTB2). The cemetery’s demography, the morphology of the graves, the constitution of personal sets and some gestures involved in the funerary ceremony were studied. Some of the identified practices can be compared to other sites in nearby regions, in Lyon, in the Savoy foreland and in the Mediterranean hinterland. One can notice in particular that, in some cases, parts of open-shaped pots are buried in the pit at the end of the ceremony, and that the grave may be sealed by a little earth mound or by a pile of stones.

The funeral practice of Tashtyk ground burials (early stage of the Tashtyk culture, Minusinsk basin) combined those made according to two different rites: inhumation with evidences of probable mummification (crania trepanation) and cremation with bones placed in human-like mannequins. This biritualism is generally considered as a result of the heterogeneity of the early Tashtyk society, which included migrants who incorporated the tradition of the cremation. Age and sex analyses of individuals buried in the Tashtyk cemeteries excavated by E.B. Vadetskaya showed that men were mostly cremated, while women, as a rule, were buried according to the rite of inhumation. Both conclusions however are not sufficiently proved and need further justification and concretization on the base of the wide materials of both cultural (archaeological) and biological (physical anthropology and genetic) character.
Complex of grave 4, Oglakhty cemetery (AD 3–4 centuries) thanks to the well preserved organic remains provides a unique opportunity of considering in conjunction both cultural and biological characteristics of individuals buried here – two mummies and two mannequins. Possible subjectivity of the conclusions, related to the individual character of the source data, can be partly made up for their detailed character. Cultural features of all adult people from grave 4 as well as craniological data of the male mummy have been considered in the previous papers of the authors.
Current paper is devoted to a mannequin with cremated bones. Detailed description of the mannequin, its cloths and a leather pocket containing cremated bones is given here for the first time as well as results of the bone analises. Large size of the bone fragments allowed their age and sex determination and gave an idea on the very process of cremation. An overview of the scarce parallels to the Oglakhty mannequins known from the other cultures is given which is important for the further interpretation of the Tashtyk materials.

Marie Besse, Martine Piguet, Tara Steimer-Herbet, Isabelle André, Anouk Bystritzsky-Papilloud, Antony Carbone, Julie Debard, Benjamin Gehres, Michel Guélat, Auréade Henry, Tobias Hofstetter & Emmanuel Mens

Français : Situé dans le canton de Genève, le site du Pré-du-Stand a fait l'objet de fouilles préventives en 2015 et 2016. Elles ont mis en évidence une succession de couches archéologiques très altérées pour lesquelles plusieurs horizons d'occupation sont définis, depuis le Néolithique moyen jusqu'à la période romaine. Les vestiges sont peu nombreux, le plus souvent mal conservés du fait d'une forte érosion des niveaux anthropiques. Il ne reste plus que les structures en creux ou les assises des structures en pierre. Néanmoins, en s'appuyant sur près de 50 datations radiocarbone, d’un mobilier de plus de 3500 pièces, et d'une trentaine de structures, la séquence stratigraphique témoigne d'occupations plus ou moins importantes qui prennent des formes différentes selon les périodes : lieu cultuel, zone de culture, lieu d'activités artisanales, zone funéraire. Le site n'est jamais à proprement parler une zone d'habitat mais se trouve plutôt en périphérie d'une telle occupation.

Deutsch: Die im Kanton Genf gelegene Fundstelle Pré-du-Stand war 2015 und 2016 Gegenstand von Präventivausgrabungen. Sie brachten eine Abfolge stark verwitterter archäologischer Schichten zutage, für die mehrere Besiedlungshorizonte definiert wurden, vom Mittelneolithikum bis zur Römerzeit. Es gibt nur wenige Überreste, die aufgrund der starken Erosion der anthropogenen Schichten zumeist schlecht erhalten sind. Es sind nur noch die Hohlstrukturen oder die Fundamente der Steinstrukturen erhalten. Dennoch zeugt die stratigraphische Abfolge auf der Grundlage von fast 50 Radiokarbondatierungen, einem Mobiliar von mehr als 3500 Objekten und etwa 30 Strukturen von mehr oder weniger umfangreichen Besiedlungen, die je nach Periode unterschiedliche Formen annehmen: Kultstatte, Kulturort, Ort handwerklicher Aktivitäten, Gräberfeld. Die Fundstelle ist nie im eigentlichen Sinne ein Siedlungsgebiet, sondern befindet sich eher am Rande einer Besiedlung.

Italiano: Situato nel canton di Ginevra, il sito di Pré-du-Stand è stato oggetto di scavi preventivi nel 2015 e nel 2016. Questi hanno portato alla luce una successione di strati archeologici fortemente alterati dai quali si definiscono diversi orizzonti di occupazione, dal Neolitico medio all'epoca romana. I resti sono pochi e per lo pia mal conservati a causa della forte erosione dei livelli antropici. Rimangono solo le strutture in legno o le fondamenta delle strutture in pietra. La sequenza stratigrafica, basata su quasi 50 datazioni al radiocarbonio, su oltre 3500 reperti mobili e su una trentina di strutture, testimonia tuttavia la presenza di insediamenti più o meno estesi, the assumono caratteri differenti a seconda del periodo: luogo di culto, zona culturale, sito di attività artigianali, area funeraria. Il sito non è mai un’area insediativa vera e propria, piuttosto si trova alla periferia di un insediamento.

English: In 2015 and 2016, 'preventive' excavations were carried out at the site of Pre-du-Stand in Canton Geneva. They yielded a stratigraphic sequence of severely weathered archaeological layers, which were identified as belonging to several phases of occupation stretching from the Middle Neolithic to the Roman periods. The remains were few in number and most were poorly preserved due to severe erosion of the anthropogenic strata. Only the hollow features and the foundations of stone structures had survived. Nevertheless, it was possible, thanks to almost 50 radiocarbon dates, an assemblage of over 3500 artefacts and some 30 features, to identify a sequence of occupations of varying size. They each took a different form from one period to the next: cultic site, cultural area, location of crafting activities, cemetery. The site never accommodated a settlement as such but was, rather, peripheral.