Description:
L’allée sépulcrale de la «Ferme Duport » à Guiry-en-Vexin (Val-d’Oise) a été fouillée dans les années soixante. La documentation qui en émane a été exploitée à de nombreuses reprises, et récemment en 2006 par le Service départemental d’archéologie du Val-d’Oise. La confrontation des contributions existantes, à laquelle s’ajoutent de nouvelles analyses, permet d’affiner les interprétations relatives à la chronologie et au fonctionnement de ce gisement, semble-t-il fondé à la fin du IVe millénaire av. J.-C. Bien que la durée totale de l’utilisation de ce caveau demeure inconnue, des éléments du rituel funéraire du Néolithique récent transparaissent : inhumations en position repliée, réduction de squelette, etc. Ces caractéristiques, peu communes en Bassin parisien, enrichissent la connaissance des pratiques funéraires des sociétés de la fin du IVe millénaire av. J.-C.
The “ La Ferme Duport” tomb at Guiry-en-Vexin is located in the Vald’Oise, 60 kilometres northwest of Paris. This monument, located on the hillside, was partially excavated during the 1960s by a team of volunteers from the CRAVF [ Archaeological Research Centre of French Vexin]. This is a monumental type of allée couverte set into a slope, probably with a monumental entrance emerging in the landscape, but the chamber was not examined because it was under a modern barn. This article reviews the previous work, and completes knowledge of the site by a number of further tests conducted between 2006 and 2008 by the SDAVO [ County Archaeological Service of the Val-d’Oise]. The present study offers a renewed vision of the history of the monument. It appears to have been founded in the last third of the 4th millennium BC, and may have been in use fairly rapidly. However, the total duration of use of this tomb is unknown. It remains unclear whether the monument was still frequented in the 3rd millennium BC, and abandonment procedures are difficult to identify on the basis of the existing documentation. In addition the site was reoccupied during the Iron Age, which disturbed several areas of the chamber. Oriented east-west, the tomb has the particularity of having an “ apse tomb” dug into the bedrock in contrast to the chamber, which was built. The pit in which the monument was installed is not fully known, but its straight walls were lined with vertical slabs. The observed total length of the monument is about 8 m. Two stone walls assembled with irregular blocks and horizontal slabs of clay occupy the eastern and southern parts of the tomb. It was originally inserted between orthostat walls, as exists elsewhere in the region. Finally, the ground is covered with irregular limestone slabs covering the entire surface of the monument. At least sixty subjects, forty-eight adult individuals and twelve immature individuals, were buried in this vault. The exploitation of data regarding sex and estimated age provides few results in terms of the spatial distribution of those buried. In addition, hundreds of bones revealed pathological abnormalities. Finally, using a vault requires the collective management of human remains at each new interment. The skeletons of people buried initially underwent a series of manipulations (reduction, collection, grouping of bones) highlighted by comprehensive study. The method of depositing corpses seems fairly homogeneous. Many were buried in the flexed position lying on their side. Several arrowheads were found near some subjects, possibly corresponding to deposits of personal grave goods. Management of the burial space seems to have been quite opportunistic. No specific storage has been demonstrated. The oldest skeletons were apparently pushed roughly up to the walls. During the Recent Neolithic, after an indeterminate period of time, the eastern part of the tomb, also known as the apse, collapsed, causing the tilting of several orthostats. Despite this, the grave continued to be used. This megalithic monument is not isolated in this area of Val-d’Oise. It shares many characteristics with other architectural monuments located within a radius of 10 km around the site. Without being exceptional, the burial practices identified appear slightly different from those documented on several contemporary sites, pointing more to opportunistic management than to a codified ritual.