Angela
Elite member
- Messages
- 21,823
- Reaction score
- 12,325
- Points
- 113
- Ethnic group
- Italian
One of the interesting aspects of this find is that it is from the "Passy" culture of northwestern France, which is dated to about 4500 BC.
You can read the article here:
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index...c-necropolis-contains-twenty-monumental-tombs
From the article:
"These large, elongated structures are bounded by ditches which may be associated with fences, and a mound entombs the deceased. In a break with past traditions, these large monuments suggest that a type of hierarchy has been introduced into society."
"Each construction was designed to house a few burials, but often there is only one. The most characteristic burial mounds are very large – 3.50 to 4 metres long – and contain a male individual along with a number of arrow tips. Whole sheep were also interred; a good example being Monument 19 which had seven accompanying the deceased."
I found this article on Passy culture which talks about the change in agriculture that occurred in this culture about 4300 BC. It involved the use of plows, perhaps pulled by oxen or horses(?), and permitted the extension of farming from sandy loess soils to the heavier soils of upland areas.
http://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/neolithic/
This is an old study; perhaps someone has access to more current research.
Also from this paper:
In north-central Europe, especially Poland, Denmark, and Bohemia, there are similar long tumuli, perhaps a little more recent but historically and culturally similar. All these monuments were more or less oriented toward the east. They all seem to shelter individual burials or those with only a few tombs. In eastern Europe there was also an explosion of funerary ritual, but it takes another form. At Varna in Bulgaria, conspicuous display of wealth begins to reveal itself in the funerary objects accompanying the dead. Burial of precious gold objects, necklaces, bracelets, clothing, pottery, and flint may be markers of social status. In Brittany, monumental burials contain large axes imported from the Alps. The tombs at Passy, on the other hand, are extremely poor in offerings--a few ceramics, a few arrowheads, but nothing we would consider prestigious.
View attachment 6611
View attachment 6612
You can read the article here:
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index...c-necropolis-contains-twenty-monumental-tombs
From the article:
"These large, elongated structures are bounded by ditches which may be associated with fences, and a mound entombs the deceased. In a break with past traditions, these large monuments suggest that a type of hierarchy has been introduced into society."
"Each construction was designed to house a few burials, but often there is only one. The most characteristic burial mounds are very large – 3.50 to 4 metres long – and contain a male individual along with a number of arrow tips. Whole sheep were also interred; a good example being Monument 19 which had seven accompanying the deceased."
I found this article on Passy culture which talks about the change in agriculture that occurred in this culture about 4300 BC. It involved the use of plows, perhaps pulled by oxen or horses(?), and permitted the extension of farming from sandy loess soils to the heavier soils of upland areas.
http://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/neolithic/
This is an old study; perhaps someone has access to more current research.
Also from this paper:
In north-central Europe, especially Poland, Denmark, and Bohemia, there are similar long tumuli, perhaps a little more recent but historically and culturally similar. All these monuments were more or less oriented toward the east. They all seem to shelter individual burials or those with only a few tombs. In eastern Europe there was also an explosion of funerary ritual, but it takes another form. At Varna in Bulgaria, conspicuous display of wealth begins to reveal itself in the funerary objects accompanying the dead. Burial of precious gold objects, necklaces, bracelets, clothing, pottery, and flint may be markers of social status. In Brittany, monumental burials contain large axes imported from the Alps. The tombs at Passy, on the other hand, are extremely poor in offerings--a few ceramics, a few arrowheads, but nothing we would consider prestigious.
View attachment 6611
View attachment 6612