The collective burials of Provence in the long term
Natural cavities, dolmens and hypogees are the three main categories of tombs containing collective burials. The choice of natural cavities with limited space results from the rules of management of the dead which also prevail in dolmens and in most hypogees. Certain original characteristics of the...
Enregistré dans:
| Udgivet i: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/pm, |
|---|---|
| Hovedforfatter: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Anglais |
| Udgivet: |
Préhistoires méditerranéennes
2021
|
| Fag: | |
| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Summary: | Natural cavities, dolmens and hypogees are the three main categories of tombs containing collective burials. The choice of natural cavities with limited space results from the rules of management of the dead which also prevail in dolmens and in most hypogees. Certain original characteristics of the Provençal dolmens, the same material that they share with the other types of tomb and their limited distribution in certain territories, argue in favour of the creation of these tombs by the local populations under the influence of an exogenous ideology. The large number of individuals deposited in the hypogees, the preserved completeness of the skeletons and the abundant material distinguish some of these tombs from the other categories and lead us to think of a management where the attention is paid more to the individual than to the group.Understanding the multiple facets of the functioning of collective burials over time is not an easy task. One must have at one's disposal a panel of examples of funerary sites resulting from methodical and well-documented excavations to attempt a rational approach to funerary practices. Provence benefits from a few recent or fairly recent cases of excavations of collective burials in shelters, hypogees or dolmens, used at different periods of the Neolithic. They have provided a series of information allowing certain aspects of sepulchral management systems to be identified. Thus, with the help of recent radiocarbon dating, it has been possible to identify permanent features in burials from different periods, linked to the structuring of space and the codification of certain operating rules, as well as variants of these rules and their loosening in the recent Final Neolithic phase. Also at the end of this period, the even more restricted spaces presented by the new forms of architecture tend to reduce the number of burials. The unstructured architecture of the Provençal tumuli represents the ultimate evolution of built tombs. These burials no longer seem to be designed to accommodate several individuals but only one, even if later, very often, other individuals were buried there. |
|---|