Étude d’un des sarcophages en plomb d’Époque moderne de l’hotel-dieu de Tonnerre (Yonne)

L’étude a porté sur l’un des sept sarcophages métalliques d’un ensemble, datant des XVIe-XVIIe s., découvert dans l’Hôtel-Dieu de Tonnerre (Yonne, France). Grâce à des études anthropobiologique, archéologique et métallographique, l’individu et son sarcophage ont été caractérisés.L’identification des techniques de fabrication a permis de différencier les deux sarcophages emboités qui enveloppaient le défunt, bien que le matériau de départ ait été le même ou presque.L’analyse anthropobiologique, résultant d’une fouille exhaustive en laboratoire, a permis de caractériser le sexe et l’âge du sujet, un individu jeune adulte, de sexe masculin, dont l’état sanitaire général est bon, bien que des variations anatomiques non métriques et une pathologie d’ordre traumatique aient été observées ; enfin, le traitement post mortem appliqué au défunt, problématique, a fait l’objet d’un examen particulier.The study concerned one of a set of seven metal sarcophaguses found in a burial space, dating from the 16th–17th centuries, discovered in the Hôtel-Dieu in Tonnerre (Yonne, France). Using anthropological, archaeological and metallographic techniques, the individual and his sarcophagus have been analysed.Identification of the manufacturing techniques enabled differentiation of the two sarcophaguses, one contained within the other, which held the body, though the material seems to have been the same or almost the same in both layers.The anthropobiological analysis, resulting from an exhaustive laboratory study, revealed the sex and approximate age of the subject. He was a young adult male in good general health, though non-metric anatomical variations and a traumatic pathology were observed. Lastly, the post-mortem treatment applied to the corpse, which has raised various questions, was the object of particular attention.Die Untersuchung betraf einen von sieben Metallsarkophagen eines im Hôtel-Dieu von Tonnerre (Departement Yonne, Frankreich) entdeckten und in das 16.-17. Jh. datierten Ensembles. Anthropobiologische, archäologische und metallographische Studien ermöglichten die genaue Beschreibung des Individuums und seines Sarkophags.Obwohl das Ausgangsmaterial der beiden Sarkophage identisch oder fast identisch war, konnten die beiden ineinander verschachtelten Sarkophage, in denen der Verstorbene ruhte, dank der Identifizierung der Herstellungstechniken unterschieden werden.Die aus einer erschöpfenden Laborgrabung resultierende anthropobiologische Analyse hat es erlaubt, das Geschlecht und das Alter des Individuums zu bestimmen : es handelte sich um einen jungen Erwachsenen männlichen Geschlechts, dessen allgemeiner Gesundheitszustand trotz nicht metrischer anatomischer Merkmale und einer traumatischen Pathologie gut war. Schließlich wurde die problematische Behandlung, die dem Toten post mortem zuteil geworden war, einer besonderen Untersuchung unterzogen

Une sépulture du premier âge du Fer en moyenne vallée du Rhône : Lautagne (Valence, Drôme)

The archaeological excavation of a Roman camp on the Lautagne site in Valence (Drôme) brought to light a secondary cremation grave which can be dated on the 7th century BC. This tomb is isolated from any funeral ensemble, but not far from a small habitat more or less contemporary. This discovery illustrates the burial customs of the beginning of the Iron Age in the middle valley of the Rhone, a region where these are still little documented, which increases the interest of this find. If the upper part of the burial is not preserved, however, the entire loculus and its contents remain. The deceased cremated, about 18 years old, is probably female if we believe the adornment that accompanied her on the pyre : an earring, a bracelet and two legs rings, in bronze, and a necklace of pearls in bronze or amber. This material was placed, mixed with the bones, in an ossuary urn closed by a cup, the two vases in unturned ceramics. The loculus, just the size of these, contained no other deposit. Compared to the rare discoveries made on the borders of the Drôme and Vaucluse and in the north of the Gard, Lautagne’s grave reveals an originality of local practices : the use of vases of morphology and aspect very similar, they serve as an ossuary or container of foodstuffs ; the adornment of the ankles by rings of very similar shape and decoration ; the assembly of the same types of objects. But beyond this particularism, this grave fits perfectly in the context of the passage from burial to incineration in this part of the South-East of France, during the 7th century BC. On the banks of the Rhône, in the Gard, the Vaucluse and the south of the Drôme, as well as in the Southern Alps, the deceased are not burned but buried, as at Pont-de-Pierre 2-Nord (near Bollène) the Late Bronze Age IIIb, or Boulats (near Montélimar) and Picoulette (near Orange) in the 8th century. In the following century, while the deceased were not burned at La Bâtie (near Bollène) and la Mornasse (near Orange), cremation appeared in some tombs, such as Camper (near Bagnols-sur-Cèze), a place where burials and cremation graves meet, or Gagne-Pain (near Bollène). The deceased cremated of Lautagne is therefore, at the end of this century, in a context of coexistence of both types of body care. And in these plains of the left bank of the Rhône, during the following century, it is cremation that seems to become predominant (la Rouverette near Bollène, Malalones near Pierrelatte). The use of an ossuary vase, as in Lautagne, is poorly informed in this region. The conditions of discovery and conservation of the tombs of Camper 2 and la Rouverette do not allow to know if the bones were placed in a vase or not. These are deposited directly in the pit at Gagné-Pain, which was a relatively minor use in cremation cemeteries of the Languedoc, where the deposit of bones in an urn dominates until the end of the 7th century, but becomes more frequent thereafter. In Lautagne, as in the rest of the middle Rhone valley, there is a lack of information concerning the superficial part of the grave. The only documented site on this subject is that of Pont de Pierre 2-Nord, which shows the existence of a mound of earth, surrounded by a ditch, a formula also attested in the coastal plains of eastern Languedoc. Also built with earth, but supplemented by internal or peripheral structures of river pebbles, are the tumuli of the alpine valleys of the of the Durance basin. And probably it is necessary to imagine at least a simple heap of earth for these tombs of the edges of the Rhone, installed on glaciofluvial terraces or in alluvial environment. Given the excavated surface all around her, the Lautagne’s grave does seem to be isolated from any funerary context. This distinguishes it somewhat from other sites in the region, such as La Bâtie, Les Malalonnes, Gagne-Pain or Camper, which are small groupings of tombs. Another striking fact, the union of objects provided by Lautagne’s tomb is found in a similar way in several other burials in this geographical areaof the middle Rhone valley, regardless of how the body is treated. This undoubtedly marks a regional custom. In this respect, it is even surprising to note the similarity of the assemblage of objects between Lautagne and the tomb 1 of La Bâtie. The urn, even though the use differs, ossuary in Lautagne, simple container for food at La Bâtie, has exactly the same shape, the same proportions and the same dimensions. In both cases are legs rings of very identical, as well as the same pearlamber . Very similar objects also in grave 1 of Ventavon tumulus 18, with the same form of urn, here also containing foodstuffs, a ring at each of the ankles of the buried dead, pearls of amber, but also of paste of glass, and a bracelet, here in lignite. This is the case again with the tomb 1 of Camper, with his lot of rings of legs. The custom of parrying the ankles of the deceased such rings seems even well fixed in the region, whether the body is cremated or not burned.La fouille d’un camp romain sur le site de Lautagne à Valence (Drôme) a permis la découverte d’une tombe à incinération du VIIe s. av. J.-C., isolée, hors de tout ensemble funéraire, mais non loin d’un petit habitat à peu près contemporain. Cette tombe permet de mieux appréhender les usages funéraires du début de l’âge du Fer dans la moyenne vallée du Rhône, une région où ceux-ci sont encore peu documentés, ce qui accroît l’intérêt de cette découverte. Si la partie supérieure de la sépulture n’est pas conservée, il subsiste néanmoins la totalité du loculus et de son contenu. Le défunt incinéré, âgé d’environ 18 ans, est probablement une adolescente si l’on en croit la parure qui l’a accompagnée sur le bûcher : une boucle d’oreille, un bracelet et deux anneaux de jambes en bronze et un collier de perles en bronze ou en ambre. Ce matériel a été placé, mêlé aux os, dans une urne-ossuaire fermée par une coupe, toutes deux en céramique non tournée. Le loculus, juste à la dimension de ces derniers, ne contenait aucun autre dépôt. Comparée aux rares découvertes faites aux confins de la Drôme et du Vaucluse et dans le nord du Gard rhodanien, la tombe de Lautagne permet de dégager une certaine originalité des pratiques locales : l’utilisation de vases de morphologie et d’aspect fort semblables, qu’ils servent d’ossuaire ou de contenant de denrées ; la parure des chevilles du mort par des anneaux ou jambelets de forme et décor très proches ; l’assemblage des mêmes types d’objets de parure. Mais au-delà de ce particularisme, cette tombe s’intègre tout à fait dans le contexte du passage de l’inhumation à l’incinération dans cette partie du Sud-Est, au cours du VIIe s. av. J.-C.Dedet Bernard, Buffat Loïc, Kielb-Zaaraoui Magalie. Une sépulture du premier âge du Fer en moyenne vallée du Rhône : Lautagne (Valence, Drôme). In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 116, n°1, 2019. pp. 133-152

Le camp F de Lautagne à Valence (Drôme)

Parmi les différentes occupations militaires romaines repérées sur le plateau de Lautagne à Valence (Drôme) depuis les années 1990, le camp F est celui dont la surface a été explorée de la façon la plus extensive. La fouille réalisée entre 2014 et 2015 a permis de mettre au jour l’angle sud-est du fossé d’enceinte et l’entrée est, ainsi que de nombreux vestiges situés à l’intérieur de la fortification. Ceux-ci ont apporté certaines informations essentielles sur la vie d’une armée romaine stationnée au nord de la Gaule transalpine dans le second quart du ier s. av. J.-C., ainsi que sur l’organisation interne de ce camp temporaire. En effet, ces structures archéologiques, principalement des petits fours excavés en terre, s’organisent en grands alignements et forment une trame fossile du dispositif interne ; des espaces ont pu être matérialisés, en particulier de grands axes de circulation et des zones privilégiées d’installation des tentes des soldats. Les différentes études et analyses menées sur le matériel archéologique présent dans les comblements des fours ont également permis d’entrevoir le quotidien des légionnaires romains.The triangular plateau of Lautagne overlooks the landscape south of Valence, and the Rhône, located a few hundred metres to the west. Combining a flat expanse of land, wide and steep slopes to the north and west, the area represents an ideal location for military settlement and surveillance; the plateau is easily defended, and faces the first foothills of the Massif Central. The site has been the subject of numerous surveys and test trenches since the early 1990s, which led to the discovery of no fewer than six defensive systems toward the end of the 2nd and 1st c. BC. Between the end of 2013 and the end of 2016, two extensive excavations were carried out on an area measuring just over 13.7 ha. They explored the south-eastern corner of Camp F, the subject of this article. Little material allowing for dating was found therein; neither ceramic nor numismatic goods were retrieved. Current consensus attributes the camp’s dating range to the second quarter of the 1st c. BC. The enclosure ditch has been precisely identified over nearly 660 m on its southern side and 460 m on its eastern side. It forms a particularly imposing defensive perimeter, with an opening width of 5 m, a depth of 3 m, and a V-shaped profile. The study of the ditch backfill is rich in information thanks to the cross-referencing of archaeological and geoarchaeological data. It demonstrates a repetitive filling pattern, composed of voluminous sediment layers, containing gravel from inside the camp, and loess from outside the camp. It is obvious that the Roman army performed a rigorous sorting of materials, laid out on one side or the other of the ditch, according to need. Though the enclosing rampart has entirely disappeared, we know that it was composed of upcast material from the ditch. Loess layers formed an advanced defensive obstacle outside the camp. Gravel layers constituted an earthen embankment (measuring, on average, more than 6 m wide) between the edge of the ditch and the first internal components of the camp. The presence of quadrangular earthen blocks in the ditch backfill suggests that a mud-brick facing provided vertical stability to the agger. While the width of its base is approximately known, its height remains difficult to estimate. No layers of colluvial or aeolian origin are attested to in the ditch stratigraphy. This indicates with certainty that the ditch remained open for a relatively short period of time, a few weeks or months at most. Two entrances to the camp were observed on the eastern and southern border. These access points assume the form of an external clavicula, measuring about 12 m in diameter and right-angled, as opposed to being semi-circular in shape, which represents an archaeological novelty. A series of twelve pits dug within the eastern feature was also uncovered, forming a perfect square measuring 9 m on each side. The deepest pits reach the gravel terrace, likely serving to securely seat wooden posts. These would logically have been used to support a substantial wooden structure, likely a gate-tower, such as the one reconstructed at Lunt’s Roman fort in Baginton (England). In the end, total dimensions for the camp are not known, as no ditch was identified to the north, during the surveys, that would have served to close off the camp. Nonetheless, it is assumed that the site must have occupied between 38 and 46 ha, and that between 10,000 and 15,000 (?) men, depending on the size of the auxiliary forces, could have been stationed at Lautagne for a summer campaign. Within the camp, 290 structures were preserved over some 9 ha, 119 of which have been identified as cooking ovens, sometimes accompanied by evacuation or ash pits. These structures, which underwent some form of refurbishment, invariably possess identical morphologies. They are composed of an oval-shaped, rubble earthen heating area, mostly measuring between 1 m and 1.30 m in diameter, and which opens onto a working pit. There are also two dryers/smokehouses and ovens opening onto the enclosure ditch, which was half-filled at the time of use. The different fill levels of these structures are very often identical: a dumping level of broken amphorae and/or pebbles on the surface and more or less carbonaceous levels underneath. Moreover, these are the only contexts containing archaeological material, few remains have been collected from the enclosure ditch. The material consists of ceramic goods (amphora, common ceramics, fine ceramics and unturned ceramics), pebbles, charcoal, seeds and fragmentary metal objects. A large amount of information has been gathered about the daily life and diet of Roman soldiers in the mid-1st c. BC, particularly concerning cereal consumption. At Lautagne, barley was the most commonly consumed grain on site (60%, compared to 23% wheat), leading us to assume that during the middle of the 1st c. BC, the legionnaire’s diet probably included a large ration of barley, as opposed to wheat. Finally, in the well-preserved areas, archaeological remains are distributed within groups of structures and organised in large alignments, parallel or perpendicular to the fortification axis. We suggest that this organisation is related to the camp’s internal pathways, the intervallum, as well as the areas dedicated to use for Roman soldiers’ tent installations. Because of the large number of uncertainties at the outset, it seems risky to theoretically reconstruct the camp. However, after examining various archaeological and textual sources in ideally preserved areas and according to the measurements provided by Ps.-Hygin, we have nonetheless attempted to re-imagine how the soldiers would have set up their tents at Lautagne F

Le camp F de Lautagne à Valence (Drôme) : l’organisation interne et la vie quotidienne d’un camp militaire romain au milieu du I^er s. av. J.-C.

International audienceOf the various Roman military camps identified since the 1990s on the Lautagne plateau (Valence, Drôme), Camp F is the one whose scope has been most extensively explored. The excavation carried out between 2014 and 2015 not only revealed the southeastern corner of the enclosure ditch, as well as the eastern entrance to the camp, but also numerous remains enclosed within the fortification perimeter. These vestiges provide essential insight into the daily life of a Roman army stationed in northern Transalpine Gaul during the second quarter of the 1st c. BC, and reveal the internal layout of this temporary encampment. Indeed, the numerous archaeological structures, mainly small earthen ovens, were organised along vast alignments. Areas dedicated to specific purposes are perceptible: in particular major circulation routes and privileged zones for the installation of Roman soldiers’ tents. The study and analysis of the archaeological material retrieved from the oven backfill has also provided important insight into the daily life of Roman legionnaires.Parmi les différentes occupations militaires romaines repérées sur le plateau de Lautagne à Valence (Drôme) depuis les années 1990, le camp F est celui dont la surface a été explorée de la façon la plus extensive. La fouille réalisée entre 2014 et 2015 a permis de mettre au jour l’angle sud-est du fossé d’enceinte et l’entrée est, ainsi que de nombreux vestiges situés à l’intérieur de la fortification. Ceux-ci ont apporté certaines informations essentielles sur la vie d’une armée romaine stationnée au nord de la Gaule transalpine dans le second quart du Ier s. av. J.-C., ainsi que sur l’organisation interne de ce camp temporaire. En effet, ces structures archéologiques, principalement des petits fours excavés en terre, s’organisent en grands alignements et forment une trame fossile du dispositif interne ; des espaces ont pu être matérialisés, en particulier de grands axes de circulation et des zones privilégiées d’installation des tentes des soldats. Les différentes études et analyses menées sur le matériel archéologique présent dans les comblements des fours ont également permis d’entrevoir le quotidien des légionnaires romains