Funerals During the Second Iron age: A Newly Discovered Sepulchral Ensemble Reveals Practices in Western Switzerland (Pré-Du-Stand, Geneva) Volume 4 - Issue 5

Marie Besse¹*, Martine Piguet¹, Antony Carbone², Auréade Henry³, Stéphanie Girardclos⁴, Julie Debard¹, Tobias Hofstetter¹, Anouk Bystritzsky-Papilloud¹ and Tara Steimer¹

• ¹Laboratory of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology, Department FA Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland
• ²University Lumière Lyon, France
• ³CEPAM laboratory (UMR 7264), CNRS Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France
• ⁴Department of Earth Sciences, Institut des Sciences de l’Environnement (ISE), University of Geneva, Switzerland

Received:July 20, 2021   Published: August 06, 2021

Corresponding author:Marie Besse, Laboratory of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology, Department FA Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, University of Geneva, Uni Carl-Vogt, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland

DOI: 10.32474/JAAS.2021.04.000198

 

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Abstract

During preventive archaeological excavations at the site of Pré-du-Stand in Geneva (Switzerland) in 2015 and 2016, four cremations dating to the middle La Tène period (La Tène C2/200-150 BC) were found. This discovery sheds light on Second Iron Age societies, which remain poorly understood to this day. Analysis based on existing anthropological knowledge and funerary artefacts suggest these structures represent a female grave, two warrior graves, and a deposit of charcoal and burned human bones. On the Swiss Plateau, the beginning of the Second Iron Age (LTA2-LTC2/425-150 BC) is characterised by inhumation necropolises. Cremation, meanwhile, disappears until 150 BC, when it makes a comeback. The recent discoveries made at Pré-du-Stand push back the appearance of cremations to the La Tène C2 period around 200 BC, and bear witness to the presence of two male tombs, a rare occurrence in the funerary context for this period.

Abstract| Introduction| Geological and Environmental Context of Pré-Du- Stand| Archaeological Context : The End of the Iron Age in Western Switzerland| Methodology| The Four Structures of La Tène at Pré-Du-Stand| Discussion and Conclusion| Acknowledgments| Funding| References|