Genevray Necropolis
The completely preserved Middle Neolithic necropolis of Genevray in Thonon-les-Bains on the south bank of Lake Geneva , in the Haute-Savoie department in France, is the largest necropolis of the Middle Neolithic in France with an area of more than 26,000 m² . It contains more than 220 graves dating from the middle of the 5th millennium BC. Until the late 4th millennium BC (4500–3300 BC).
There are two types of graves in the necropolis. Once at least 88 simple graves , originally filled with earth , which may have contained wooden boxes. On the other hand, 132 stone boxes , consisting of four to six vertical plates with a cap stone, some of considerable dimensions. The stone boxes are called Chamblandes-type stone boxes after a place near Pully in the canton of Vaud on the Swiss side of Lake Geneva.
Many boxes were covered with a complete layer of stone. Some were at ground level. In this case, one or more small upright (but now broken) stone slabs mark the places. Some plates were decorated with bowls and, as fragments, were used as top or side stones in the construction of the boxes. Some blocks and slabs probably belonging to the necropolis were found lying on the ground or in pits, buried in the early Late Bronze Age (1000-800 BC)
The dead lay on their left side or on their back in the fetal position with their heads facing east. The bodies were huddled tightly in some of the smaller stone boxes. The shallow graves, of which only a few have been excavated, seem to have been intended for single burials, while single, double and multiple burials (up to six people) were carried out in the stone boxes. The gifts consist primarily of jewelry made from bones or shells.
The timing of the stone boxes has yet to be determined in detail. In the necropolis of Vidy-Lausanne on the Swiss side of Lake Geneva, the shallow graves in the earth correspond to the early phase of the necropolis. It remains to be seen whether the same conditions exist in Thonon-les-Bains, where an earth grave contained a ceramic that seems to support this assumption.
The Genevray necropolis represents the transition from individual to collective burial , which spreads across western, central and northern Europe and takes on monumental forms.
See also
Web links
- Une nécropole neolithique de première importance scientifique pour la France et la Suisse . INRAP actualités from July 20, 2004
- La nécropole neolithique de Genevray à Thonon-les-Bains en Haute-Savoie . (Photos)
Coordinates: 46 ° 21 '23.6 " N , 6 ° 27' 59.8" E