Les sépultures chasséennes du site de Narbons à Montesquieu-de-Lauragais (Haute-Garonne)

Abstract

The site of Narbons (township of Montesquieu-de-Laurageais, Haute-Garonne), identified as a medieval area was excavated in August 1999 in the setting of preventive excavations carried out by the AFAN on the tracing of the A 66 freeway. Therefore, six pits are attributed to the Neolithic and four of them were containing burials. These burials set in holes of great depth, whose sections were principally oblong or sub-rectangular. It appears that these structures might be some well reused as graves because none of the skeleton was in contact with the funds. Hence, the primary destination of these stuctures could be reconsidered. The sediments on which they have been placed were extremely homogeneous except the filling of the single cylindrical pit which could be in relation with dumps at several layers. One raises three individual burials (an adult and two children) and two adults laid out simultaneously or in a very short time lapse and might be related because of an anomaly noted on the two subjects which could be of genetic origin (displasic thinning of the dome of the skull). All the individuals attested more or less inflections of the members, but the positions presented some variations. Osteologic and sedimentary data certify rather in favour of decomposition into a confined space. It's indoubtely the case for the two adults whose bones disposition implies a cover system. None item appears clearly as an offering, but some other pieces, dissociated, had been the object of particular settings. The majority of the fillings bang set up quickly, one cannot reject the possibility of a completely symbolic order relation between these elements and burials during the sealing of the structures. The radiocarbon datations added to the typology of artefacts in one case reveal that this group belongs to the Middle Neolithic. Three burials should be dated to the begening of Chassean, whereas one belongs at the end of this culture. Translated by Yann Beliez