Valérie Delattre
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199567959
- eISBN:
- 9780191804410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199567959.003.0029
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
The numerous archaeological excavations recently carried out around Paris (Ilede-France) have made this part of France a privileged area for new studies of the Iron Age. In particular, it offers ...
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The numerous archaeological excavations recently carried out around Paris (Ilede-France) have made this part of France a privileged area for new studies of the Iron Age. In particular, it offers great potential for fresh interpretation of La Tène funerary practices as well as the role of human deposits in storage pits and the manipulation of human remains. This chapter uses the data from this region to explore the meanings of such evidence within Iron Age societies. Human deposits, often referred to as ‘relegation burials’, underlining the apparent second-rate nature of the tomb, are inferred as representing the alienation of certain individuals in death. However, the excluded dead play an important role understanding religious worship during this period, first via the post-mortem treatment of body itself and ultimately via the manipulated skeletal remains during the decomposition process.Less
The numerous archaeological excavations recently carried out around Paris (Ilede-France) have made this part of France a privileged area for new studies of the Iron Age. In particular, it offers great potential for fresh interpretation of La Tène funerary practices as well as the role of human deposits in storage pits and the manipulation of human remains. This chapter uses the data from this region to explore the meanings of such evidence within Iron Age societies. Human deposits, often referred to as ‘relegation burials’, underlining the apparent second-rate nature of the tomb, are inferred as representing the alienation of certain individuals in death. However, the excluded dead play an important role understanding religious worship during this period, first via the post-mortem treatment of body itself and ultimately via the manipulated skeletal remains during the decomposition process.
