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RESEARCH PRODUCT

La nécropole Néolithique moyen d’Obernai ‘Neuen Brunnen’ (Bas-Rhin) : rites funéraires de la première moitié du 5e millénaire dans le sud de la plaine du Rhin supérieur (Grossgartach, Planig-Friedberg, Roessen)

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description

The Obernai ’Neuen Brunnen’ necropolis in Lower Alsace yielded 29 tombs attributed to the Middle Neolithic. It was probably founded during the Early Grossgartach, at the end of the 48th century BC, and abandoned during the Roessen, perhaps during the Early Roessen, and in any case before the middle of the 46th century BC. The most original feature of this mortuary assemblage is that most of the tombs belong to the Planig-Friedberg period (the last stylistic phase of the Grossgartach) and the Roessen. The mortuary practices of these periods are still poorly known in the region. The necropolis is composed of three spatial groups, the most ancient of which contains all the Grossgartach tombs and one Planig-Friedberg tomb. It is at this moment that a concentration of graves in a single limited space succeeds the distribution of tombs around three distinct locations, a phenomenon that has already been observed in three other regional assemblages. The integration of Obernai in the regional corpus and the detailed analysis of the mortuary practices highlights the permanence of this ritual since the Grossgartach, in terms of the positions and orientations of the corpses and reveals changes in the frequency and artifact deposit types : some categories, such as grinding stones/rubbing stones and sickle blades disappear, while most of the arrowheads and fire-making equipment increases. The relatively high number of individuals decorated with bracelets enabled us to determine how these elements, reserved for women, were worn during the Planig-Friedberg and Roessen periods: above the elbow and in symmetry, in opposition to the Grossgartach style. Another unique feature of the Obernai necropolis is that it yielded elements belonging to Upper Alsacian and Southern Badois groups (or ’south’ groups) of the Planig-Friedberg and Roessen, such as Forchheim-type Planig-Friedberg vases and their Roessen epigones, as well as irregular ring-discs. These traits, mixed with a majority of features defining the Lower Alsace groups (northern component of the Roessen ceramics, orientations to the west), permit us to equate the Obernai necropolis with a mixed assemblage in which two distinct traditions coexisted. This observation supports the conclusions of the ceramic analyses, which place the stylistic border between the northern and southern groups of the Roessen of the southern plain of the Upper Rhine at the location of Obernai.