Une pratique funéraire originale du Néolithique moyen bourguignon : des vestiges de crémation à Lyon (Rhône)
Authors: Jallet Frédéric , Blaizot Frédérique , Franc Odile 
Published: May 2010

During the winter of 2001-2002, in a sector of the district of Vaise (Lyons, Rhône), an archaeological excavation was carried out by the Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives. On the right bank of the Saône, at a distance of approximately six kilometres to the north of the current junction of the river with the Rhône, the Vaise plain (altitude about 170 m) is limited by the buttresses of the Lyons plateau. Located 60 m from the bank of the Saône, above the plain, the sedimentary stratigraphy of Quai Paul Sédallian (168 m) depends on processes of slope and mainly of alluvial dynamics. The presence of an industrial fill and the poor legibility of the sedimentary succession did not facilitate analysis of the site. In such a context, geomorphological study thus proved essential. The occupation, attributed to the Burgundian Middle Neolithic era (NMB), is characterized by an anthropic ground level SL303, the pit FS229 and the structure E246.

The function of SL303, the floor of a domestic area or a mere circulation level, remains unknown. Observed over a small area (43 m2), it could form part of the installation characterised by the sub-quadrangular pit FS229 and the structure E246. The latter, with its irregular shape, yielded cremated human bones (0.8 g and 128.4 g) mixed with charcoals. A single burnt human bone comes from SL303. The great majority of the bones are those of an adult, while some pieces belong to a child. These bones come from a true cremation (the bones were burnt fresh, at a temperature of between 750 and 1050°). Pit FS229 appears to contain selected bones (absence of trunk, hands and feet), while the structure E246 holds pieces of various anatomical parts. The boundaries of the archaeological investigation reduce the possibilities of interpretation: the nature of the whole NMB occupation is difficult to identify; if FS229 and E246 concern funerary activity, the remainder delivered few indications arguing in favour of a domestic space. One argument rests on the representativeness of the ceramic ware, because we observe a clear prevalence of medium-sized containers. If the absence of fine forms can be explained by differential conservation, storage containers are missing. Cups and bowls represent the main pari of the identified recipients (ten out of eleven); only one large earthenware jar was identified. The sample seems incomplete or biased.

The presence of human remains is not enough to draw the conclusion of a strictly funerary context. Neolithic dwellings, including some NMB examples, frequently deliver human bones, while in strictly sepulchral contexts, potsherds and partial remains are regularly present. Most of the data collected for the Middle, Recent and Late Neolithic show that the relationship between sepulchral and domestic spaces is very close, even if a true synchrony can seldom be established. Our configuration may as easily represent successive occupations as juxtaposed activities. Either the apparent selection of the ceramic goods on Quay Sédallian is to be put in relationship with conservation problems on the site, or it depends on the nature of the installation; the pots in that case would correspond to a choice with regard to funerary gestures. These two assumptions are not incompatible and can both be retained. Only truncated scraps remain from the occupation level: part of ground level SL303, the pit FS229 and the (probably natural) basin, E246. Moreover, the distribution of the ceramological types by archaeological unit makes it possible to oppose the series of containers from SL303 to those from E246 and FS229. The first contains only simple forms, whereas the definitely segmented profiles (earthenware jar with shoulders and vase with carinated and rounded bottom) come from the second. The simple forms are very fragmented, while the segmented profiles are complete or almost so. This difference, undoubtedly functional, leads us to interpret ground SL303 as a circulation level, whereas E246 and FS229 concern deposits of cremated remains.

From an archaeological point of view, structure E246, FS229 and SL303 are dependent. The typology of the ceramics (24 pots, including 11 identifiable forms) attests to the synchrony of E246 and FS229 and of their contents (cremated bones). Ground SL303, close to them, but with no stratigraphic relation, belongs to the same chrono-cultural phase. This surface could be contemporary with E246 and FS229. If SL303 is a circulation level synchronous with the funerary activity, two different models can be proposed:

1) E246 is a pit, in which part of the cremated remains was deposited, coming from a double pyre or two pyres. If the bone remains of FS229 and E246 concern the same two individuals, that implies an elaborate funerary process, but we cannot be sure that they belong to the same skeletons. The potsherds from these two entities cannot be connected to each other.

2) E246 is not a pit, but a natural depression in an occupation level. It would represent an area on which funerary pyre remains were tossed aside, and E246 would be part of this level, trapped in a depression. This assumption can be corroborated by the presence of the femur fragment found on the ground SL303. The surface concerned by this level would include FS229, E246 and SL303. The complete vessel VP245, in E246, combined with the random representation of the skeleton (head and members only present) suggests a voluntary deposit in connection with the remains of the cremation (bones and charcoals), thus meeting the definition of a «cremation deposit» (secondary burial).

The poor conservation of the site (greatly damaged by the impact of industrial installations) and the sedimentary sequences did not facilitate the interpretation of the ground. To affirm an archaeological bond between the vestiges, we had AMS dating carried out on the cremated human bones. The results, consistent with NMB ceramic typology, ensure the chrono-cultural attribution and the association of the pots with the human bones (Lyon-2164 (Oxa): 5080 +/-30 BP; more probable dates: -3845, -3817, - 3857, -3939, -3875 B.C.; for 95%: from 3962 to 3792 B.C.). The treatment of the dead in NMB contexts concerns exclusively burials, practised in coffins or under a stone tumulus. Cases of partial cremation are however recorded at Mont-Vaudois (Héricourt, Haute-Saône). In the chrono-cultural context of the NMB (Cortaillod, Lagozza, Late Chassey), the tombs contain one or more skeletons. Sometimes, isolated human bones are found in dwellings. Some burials, often double, were carried out in caves or in storage pits in open domestic spaces. Generally, cremations are not encountered in the Late Chassey, Munzingen, Pfyn or Cortaillod horizons, contemporary with the NMB. We know only three examples of true cremation in the Middle Neolithic period: the necropolis of Camp-del-Ginebre (Caramany, Pyrénées-Orientales), two tombs of Abri 2, Fraischamp (Roque-sur-Perne, Vaucluse), and one deposit in a pit at Vallon de Gaude (Manosque, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). In the majority of the cases where fire is used, the treatment concerns more the structure (stones, walls) than the bodies. While some skeletons carry specific traces of burning, it is not possible to speak of cremations. The use of fire in a sepulchral context seems more frequent during the Late Neolithic period.

The practice of cremation appears marginal in the Neolithic era, and presents various forms in its final phase. The discovery of Sédallian seems to indicate that while inhumation seems to have dominated, cremation appears to have been more frequent than merely anecdotal or incidental. The latter emerges in Western Europe during the 4th millennium ВС. It should be specified that the vestiges presented here illustrate the only certified cremation for the NMB. The ceramic corpus and the date agree for the attribution of this occupation to an early phase of the cultural group, in a southernmost position compared to the eponym zone of Franche-Comté and Burgundy.