Madeleine Rose Hummler The archaeology of the circonscription of Rhone-Alpes between the late ...

523 Pages·2012·11.97 MB·English

Madeleine Rose Hummler
THE LATER IRON AGE IN CENTRAL-EASTERN FRANCE
The archaeology of the circonscription of Rhone-Alpes between the
late Hallstatt and late La Tene periods s
Thesis submitted towards the award of the degree of D. Phil, from the
Faculty of Anthropology and Geography, University of Oxford
Somerville College
Michaelmas Term 1985
THE LATER IRON AGE IN CENTRAL-EASTERN FRANCE
The archaeology of the circonscription of Rhone-Alpes between the
late Hallstatt and late La Tene periods
D.Phil, thesis by Madeleine Rose Hummler
Somerville College, Michaelmas term 1985
Abstract
This study reviews the evidence for the period spanning from Late
Hallstatt to Late La Tene - the 6th to 1st C BC - in the circonscription
of Rhone-Alpes, a region of 44 000 km2 centred around Grenoble and Lyon.
This evidence is presented in a gazetteer of 416 sites, comprising
settlements, burials and isolated finds.
Since Rhone-Alpes was a contact zone between Massalia and the
northern 'barbarian 1 cultures, the understanding of trade was a research
priority. The Rhone corridor was re-assessed in terms of 17 classes of
imported artefacts and the indigenous natural and human resources of
Central-Eastern France. It is concluded that this 'well known late Hall
statt trade route continued to develop after its supposed decline in the
5th C BC. It became a rhodanian cultural zone whose form anticipated
that of the Provincia Transalpina founded by the Romans in 121 BC.
Whealthy fringe settlements show how the boundary of this rhodanian
cultural zone gradually moved northwards.
Fortified settlements are mainly represented by the stone-built
hillforts of the South and West. Generally, their interiors are not yet
well documented, but certain characteristic structures - for example
granaries and sanctuaries - were noticed. Amongst lowland settlements,
a few began in the Middle La Tene as market centres. They then figured
prominently in the Italian wine trade and were later still to become
roman towns. Burial sites fall into 14 regional burial groups with
varied funerary rites. In the rich and idiosyncratic alpine sector there
is an opportunity to observe not only external contacts but also the
movement of indigenous artefacts from valley to valley.
Among general recommendations for further research are the defi
nition of regional pottery groups, the characterisation of the 3rd C BC
and the scientific investigation of a middle-Rhone hillfort. A case is
made for independent dating evidence and less reliance on historical
models.
Frontispiece: On the Camp de Larina (38-01)
THE LATER IRON AGE IN CENTRAL-EASTERN FRANCE
The archaeology of the circonscription of Rhone-Alpes between the late
Hallstatt and late La Tene periods
VOLUME I; TEXT
Abstract
List of contents
List of figures and plates
Preface
Aknowledgements
Chapter 1 The landscape 1
Introduction T
The circonscription of Rhone-Alpes 4
The landscape g
Topography 5
Geology ] Q
Soils 11
Vegetation and fauna ] 3
Climate 15
Mineral resources 15
The exploitation of the landscape 16
Agriculture and husbandry 16
Natural routes IQ
The regions of Rhone-Alpes 20
Chapter 2 The chronology 23
Introduction 23
The chronological classifications of the Iron Age in western 25
Europe
Absolute dating: imports, historic events, radiocarbon and 29
dendrochronological dates
The span of time covered by the present research 38
Chapter 3 A review of Iron Age archaeology in Central-Eastern France 40
Introduction 40
The organisation of archaeology in France 43
A survey of publications 43
The structure of French archaeology 46
The development of Iron Age studies in the Rhone-Alpes: a
partial review 49
The great syntheses 50
The study of artefacts 54
Regional surveys and excavation reports 58
The Jura, Franche-Comte and Saone plains 58
The French Alps 61
The Rhone valley and the South of the Rhone-Alpes 65
The Loire valley and Forez 69
Concluding remarks 72
Chapter 4 The quantity, nature and distribution of the evidence 75
Introduction and terminology 76
The quantity and nature of the data 78
Distribution patterns 95
Comments and conclusions 110
Chapter 5 Trade and exchange in the Rhone-Alpes 117
Introduction 117
Part 1; Locations and communications 1 17
The river and land routes lig
Mountain passes 121
The sea 124
Conclusions to Part 1 125
Part 2: Resources in barbarian Europe and their relationship to
trade 127
Introduction 127
Mineral resources in the Rhone-Alpes 128
salt 128
rock and stone 129
amber 129
coral 131
jet and lignite 132
glass 132
graphite 133
tin 133
gold 134
silver and lead 135
copper 135
iron 136
Animal and vegetable resources in the Rhone-Alpes 138
Human resources 141
transport 141
slaves 142
mercenaries 143
Part 3: The traded materials 147
Introduction 147
1) Fibulae a navicella or a sanguisuga of the 7th and 6th C BC 149
2) Cannelated and barbotine decorated wares found in late
Hallstatt contexts 152
3) Greek 3-winged bronze arrowheads 156
4) Attic black figure wares and white lekythoi, late 6th and
early 5th C BC 160
5) Attic red figure and other attic imports of the 5th and 4th C BC
163
6) and 7) Etruscan and italo-etruscan bronzes, 7th-5th and
4th-2nd C BC 168
8) Etruscan .amphorae and bucchero nero 175
9) The wine amphorae of the region of Massalia 180
10) Ionian wares 188
11) Pseudo-ionian wares 193
12) Grey monochrome wares ("phocean wares") 202
13) The coins of Massalia 209
14) Celtic coins 219
15) Iberic and celtiberian artefacts 226
16) Campanian wares 231
17) Republican wine amphorae 240
Conclusions 251
Chapter 6 The settlements 256
Introduction 256
Later Iron Age settlements in the Rhone-Alpes 264
Types and range 264
Possible settlement sites 266
Sites stratified under later settlements 267
The major towns, Vienne, Roanne, Lyon 268
Lowland settlement sites 279
Hilltop settlement sites 281
Hillforts 282
The promontory forts of the Loire and Muri Gallici 283
The plateaux forts of the Ardeche 287
The contour forts of the Drome 290
Settlement structures 292
Defences 293
Gates 293
Houses 299
Pits, shafts, wells 300
Granaries 301
Artisanat 302
Religious buildings 304
Conclusions 305
Chapter 7 The area studies 307
Introduction 307
Area no. 1: The lie de Cremieu 310
Area no. 2: The Drac valley south of Grenoble 316
Area no. 3: The region of Le Pegue 323
Area no. 4: The confluent of the Ardeche with the Rhone 327
Area no. 5: The region of Soyons 337
Area no. 6: The region of Vienne 342
Conclusions 346
Chapter 8 The caves 352
Introduction 352
Distribution 352
The occupation of cave sites in the Rhone-Alpes 354
The function of cave sites in the later Iron Age 358
Conclusions 360
Chapter 9 Burials and cemeteries in the Rhone-Alpes and in the Southern Alps
The data 362
Regional groups 371
1) Group of Tarentaise 371
2) Group of Maurienne 378
3) Group of Oisans 387
4) Group of Rochefort 389
5) The late Hallstatt barrows of the Hautes-Alpes 394
6) The group of Bochaine-Moyenne Durance and the flat graves of
the Eastern Hautes-Alpes 402
7) The group of Ubaye-Queyras or Jausier-Peyre Haute 404
8) The La Tene burials of lowland Dauphine 412
9) The La Tene burials of Haute-Savoie 417
10) The late Hallstatt barrows and burials of Haute-Savoie 421
11) The late Hallstatt barrows of the Saone and Southern Jura 427
12) The barrows and re-used dolmens of the Ardeche 430
13) The burials of the Loire (and Beaujolais) 435
14) The burials of the Drome 437
Conclusions 439
Chapter 10 Conclusions 452
Bibliography 459
List of abbreviations 490
Plates 1-4 491
VOLUME 2: THE APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Gazeteer of later Iron Age sites in the circonscription of
Rhone-Alpes
Introductory note 1
Departement of Ain (01) 5
Departement of Ardeche (07) 36
Departement of Drome (26) 95
Departement of Isere (38) 158
Departement of Loire 287
Departement of Rhone (69) 344
Departement of Savoie (73) 389
Departement of Haute-Savoie (74) 458
La Faurie, Grotte d'Agnielles and Orpierre-Ste-
Colombe (Hautes-Alpes) 507
Appendix 2 Presentation of an alpine assemblage: Seyssinet-Pariset,
Grotte des Sarrasins (38-63) 509
Location 509
History of the site 509
Stratigraphy and structure 510
I' The material assemblage 513
Dating evidence 514
The pollen analysis 515
The ceramic assemblage 518
Appendix 3 Le Pegue (26-31) revisited 541