La Nécropole de l'Age du Bronze de "La Croix de la Mission" à Marolles-sur-Seine (Seine-et-Marne)

Abstract

Abstract The Bronze Age burial ground " La Croix de la Mission " at Marolles-sur-Seine presents a group of 13 ring ditches, 9 burials and 32 cremations of the Late Bronze Age. Two skeletons were dated by Carbon 14 : the first, buried in the central area of the largest ring ditch, confirmed the founding of the necropolis during the Early Bronze Age. The second, buried in the ditch of another of the monuments with a small collection of flint blades and flakes, dates to the Late Bronze Age and corresponds to the last phase of use of the necropolis. The Late Bronze Age cremations can be divided into different categories : cremations with a simple funerary urn or perishable container, complex burials consisting of a funerary urn accompanied by other vessels, or monumental burials. Anthropological studies raise new questions concerning burial rites of this period : recurrent manipulations reveal a wide variety of funerary practices.