Présentation et intégration régionale des sépultures campaniformes de Trémery « ZAC de la Fontaine-des-Saints » site 19 (Moselle)
Authors: Brunet V. , Dupart Olivia , André Marie-France , Boitard-Bidaut E. , Dolata Jacky , Siafi Soraya , Lefebvre Arnaud , Cayol Nicolas 
Published: February 2023

Site 19 Trémery ZAC de la Fontaine-des-Saints, which lies 14 km north-east of Metz, was excavated in 1999. The site is located on a slope on the right bank of the river Moselle. The site produced several occupation phases, dating from the Early Neolithic to the Early Iron Age and a group of four Bell Beaker graves, one of which was discovered during trial trenching. The burials are located in an area of around

500 m2 on the western edge of the site. A pit and a post-hole near the graves also produced residual finds dating to the Bell Beaker culture, possibly indicating other activities on the site during this period. The grave pits are generally of rectangular shape with rounded corners. As the pits are not very well preserved due to truncation, it was not possible to observe any of the burials’ external features. They contain single primary inhumations burials, in varying positions and with different grave goods. The state of bone preservation ruled out reliable sex diagnosis. The first burial discovered during trial-trenching contained an individual of unknown sex and age accompanied by a dagger made from local Secondary flint, a fragment of a retouched flake and two flakes, as well as a decorated vessel with a sinuous profile. While the dagger is a feature of early Bell Beaker burials, the incised pottery decoration, with its

tripartite organisation, can be dated to the middle Bell Beaker period. Two of the graves discovered during excavation produced no finds. They contain the remains of individuals of indeterminate sex, an adult in extended position on the back (2113), a young adult lying on the right side (2154). The third burial (2105) is that of an adult with a flat-based beaker of mixed style, decorated with comb-impressed hatched bands bordered by cord impressions. Nine barbed-and-tanged arrowheads, typical of the western Bell Beaker area, were found on and around the body. They are made from a Cretaceous flint that could be from the Senonian outcrops in the Champagne area. Some of the blanks are Kombewa flakes. Three arrowheads grouped on the west side of

the pit indicate a dismantled quiver, with the dispersion of the other arrowheads probably taking place after the burial. Lastly, a strike-a-light and a piece with an abrupt retouch were located under the thorax. A fragment of iron pyrite associated with these elements suggests that they made up a fire-lighting kit. The analysis of residues identified on the two sides of the strike-a-light reveals the presence of mineralised and oxidised organic matter consisting of bone fragments and traces of alder. The wood is apparently not from a hafting system, but could either be the remains of an arrow shaft or a container for the fire-lighting kit. The burial discovered during the trial trenching is later than the other three, due to the decoration style of its pottery. The radiocarbon dates from the three burials found during the excavation phase place them in the earliest Bell Beaker period, 2700 – 2450 BC. According to the chronological system established by L. Salanova, this grave group can be dated to stage 2 of the final Neolithic of Northern France (early Bell Beaker). During this early phase, the graves are

mostly individual inhumations, which are isolated or loosely clustered, with no particular layout of the pit, nor preferential organisation in the position and orientation of the body. The grave group at Trémery clearly fits this model. The date obtained for grave 2105 is one of the earliest in the Paris Basin, 2582 – 2472 BC cal. (96% probability) or 2697 – 2455 BC cal. (94% probability). The characteristics of the grave-goods, previously observed in early Bell Beaker contexts,

seem coherent with this radiocarbon date. This type of assemblage and the accumulation of arrowheads are nevertheless unusual, with few comparable examples in the region.