Témoignage d’une crise de mortalité au Chasséen ancien : la sépulture en puits de Manduel (Gard)

National audienceThe grouping of the dead in the Manduel well grave seems to correspond to an unusual episode of mortality However, the operation was carried out in a rather conventional way compared to the known disposal of the dead in the domestic sphee of the southern domain during the Middle Neolithic. In fact, since a grave well cannot be compared symbolically with a cereal storage structure, it is nevertheless possible that, in this case, because of some unexpected event, the disposal could have been of a pressing nature. In concrete terms, a little more place than usual would all the same be needed to deposit these eight bodies within a very short time. In view of the nature of the small amount of sedimentation in the lower layers, this well had either been abandoned shortly before, or directly diverted from its primary function for the burial. The first intentional filling probably corresponds to a preparation, to protect the first deposit from water or to raise the ground level for the burying work, i.e. showing an attention or technical concern related to the emplacement of the bodies. However, this does not mean that this preparation was an efficient act from a sanitary point of view in the medium term, since the decomposition of corpses would have an effect on the ground water that would prevent use of the site for a long period; this fact could not have been ignored by the group carrying out the burial.2The first body deposited is that of an adult, while the last corresponds to a large child, but there appears to be no particular order of arrival between the adults and the children. The deposits were carried out over a very short time (loss of general volume, overlap of the bones, etc.). The osteological reconstructions and analyses do not leave any doubt about the fact that the bodies, and particularly the adults, were oriented and arranged. Indeed, the adults are oriented according to a South-North axis, with their heads towards the south. Two of the adults are on their back, even though the first to be placed in the grave was dorsoventrally arranged. The lower limbs are bent, with the body lying on the right or left side. The positions of the children are more difficult to restore because of difficulties arising from osteological determinations. To a certain extent, the young individuals could have been laid out at random, but the craniums are all rather regularly spaced and thus seem to be arranged as a crown against the wall. The two oldest children are lying on their right side and have their lower limbs bent, like those of the adults. All the individuals showing a clearly identifiable position were thus the subject of a codified arrangement, which could have posed a challenge due to the small size (0.95 m) and depth (> 2.50 m) of the structure, as well as the concomitant nature of the deposits.3The abundance of macro-tools is inseparably linked to burial practices associated with the domestic well of the Chassean culture. Moreover, as in the case of the Manduel grave well, it is far from exceptional to find broken and heated goods in close relation with the corpses, although the significance of these deposits remains obscure. Here, complete grinding stones are almost entirely absent (a single occurrence out of a MNI composed of thirty-nine items), so it is impossible to say whether they are fragments of residual objects collected in an opportunist way or whole elements that were subsequently damaged for the mortuary deposit.4In conclusion, while the rapid succession in time of the deposits clearly reflects an atypical episode of mortality concerning adults and children from a more extensive group, the handling of the burial is expressed through a common semantics in the cultural sphere. This structure corresponds rather well to what we call a burial, because it relates to a broad category of funerary practice in domestic pits from habitation sites located on plains. The care taken with the treatment of the corpses is in line with this hypothesis, since the bodies were laid out and oriented in spite of the severe constraints, which bears witness to an evident respect for the dead.(Traduction : M.S.N. Carpenter — mcarpenter@infonie.fr