Discover the largest satellite discovery of La Tène Necropolis – History

A group of Iron Age graves were excavated in the commune of Bobigny, a northeastern suburb of Paris, adding more than twenty burials to the largest LaTène period cemetery in Europe. Archaeologists at the French National Institute of Archaeology Prevention (INRAP) have discovered 26 funerals, 27 of which have been destroyed by agricultural work and development.

The main cemetery was originally discovered in 2002, when a new building was built on the land where ten graves were revealed in the hospital. Subsequent excavations revealed 515 burials, dating back to the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., with an area of ​​approximately 1,500 square meters (16,145 square feet or 1/3 acre). This is an unprecedented discovery and is the largest and most important cultural cemetery in Europe.

Secondary funeral groups related to settlements and their cemeteries have been found before, but they are scattered burials with no more than 10 people. Bobigny found it significantly larger and more organized, with multiple burial types and graves. The deceased were mainly adults, but there were also children under the age of four, two children aged five to nine, and two infants.

The dead were mostly lying on their backs, but some were buried on their right side. About one-third of the head was raised on purpose. The wooden sleeve and several shrouds were determined. There is a case of a double-burial child. The workpieces found were mainly iron brooches, sometimes made of copper alloys, used to secure shrouds or clothes. They were placed on the chest or wrist of some subjects.

In some dead, including toddlers, decorations such as iron torque, iron, copper alloy and lignite bracelets and iron rings were also found. An adult and a child are buried in a vase.

Finally, a man’s grave contains a warrior’s shaking: a shield, a sword and its suspension chain, and a spearhead. When in contact with metal objects, the textile remains were found, about thirty fabrics, mainly wool twill fabrics.