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

Abstract

EnglishThe archaeological excavation of a Roman camp on the Lautagne site in Valence (Drome) 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 Drome 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 Rhone, in the Gard, the Vaucluse and the south of the Drome, as well as in the Southern Alps, the deceased are not burned but buried, as at Pont-de-Pierre 2-Nord (near Bollene) the Late Bronze Age IIIb, or Boulats (near Montelimar) and Picoulette (near Orange) in the 8th century. In the following century, while the deceased were not burned at La Bâtie (near Bollene) and la Mornasse (near Orange), cremation appeared in some tombs, such as Camper (near Bagnols-sur-Ceze), a place where burials and cremation graves meet, or Gagne-Pain (near Bollene). 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 Rhone, during the following century, it is cremation that seems to become predominant (la Rouverette near Bollene, 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 Gagne-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. francaisLa fouille d'un camp romain sur le site de Lautagne a Valence (Drome) a permis la decouverte d'une tombe a incineration du viie s. av. J.-C., isolee, hors de tout ensemble funeraire, mais non loin d'un petit habitat a peu pres contemporain. Cette tombe permet de mieux apprehender les usages funeraires du debut de l'âge du Fer dans la moyenne vallee du Rhone, une region ou ceux-ci sont encore peu documentes, ce qui accroit l'interet de cette decouverte. Si la partie superieure de la sepulture n'est pas conservee, il subsiste neanmoins la totalite du loculus et de son contenu. Le defunt incinere, âge d'environ 18 ans, est probablement une adolescente si l'on en croit la parure qui l'a accompagnee sur le bucher : une boucle d'oreille, un bracelet et deux anneaux de jambes en bronze et un collier de perles en bronze ou en ambre. Ce materiel a ete place, mele aux os, dans une urne-ossuaire fermee par une coupe, toutes deux en ceramique non tournee. Le loculus, juste a la dimension de ces derniers, ne contenait aucun autre depot. Comparee aux rares decouvertes faites aux confins de la Drome et du Vaucluse et dans le nord du Gard rhodanien, la tombe de Lautagne permet de degager une certaine originalite des pratiques locales : l'utilisation de vases de morphologie et d'aspect fort semblables, qu'ils servent d'ossuaire ou de contenant de denrees ; la parure des chevilles du mort par des anneaux ou jambelets de forme et decor tres proches ; l'assemblage des memes types d'objets de parure. Mais au-dela de ce particularisme, cette tombe s'integre tout a fait dans le contexte du passage de l'inhumation a l'ncineration dans cette partie du Sud-Est, au cours du viie s. av. J.-C.