Death stone (cult)

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Dead stone in Antigny
Death stone in Chauvigny

A death stone or mortuary table (French: pierre des morts or table des morts ) was a large monolithic stone in some regions of central and western France , on which the dead of the rural regions were sometimes placed or laid out before their burial .

Geographical distribution

The geographical distribution of the preserved stones ( Poitou , Charente , Auvergne , Burgundy , Forez ) may be related to other regional practices of the cult of the dead - e.g. B. the death lanterns ( lanternes des morts ).

background

Many remote homesteads were not infrequently 15 or 20 km from the churchyard of the nearest town. Since the dead had to be buried in “ consecrated earth ” in view of their salvation or peace of mind , they were often brought by one or more relatives on their backs or on a stretcher and - in the absence of the pastor - on a stone provided for this purpose or a stone slab in front of the church, in the churchyard or at a crossroads outside the village. Their burial took place immediately after the priest's return and often without the presence of family members who had to look after their cattle at home. Only with the modernization of the traffic and road network as well as the burial regulations in the late 19th century did this custom gradually disappear.

The large death stones or mortuary tables, only rarely marked with a cross, but precisely carved, were later often misused for construction purposes and disappeared. Only a few have survived; some now serve as benches. The stones are usually only identified on the basis of local oral traditions.

literature

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