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Origin and history

The Necropolis of Near Water, located in Lacrost en Saône-et-Loire, extends over about 15 hectares near the Saône, on its left bank. This archaeological site, bordered to the east by the Arief of the Arvoux River, has about 40 tumulus aligned along three approximate lines oriented north-south. The tumulus, of varying sizes (5 to 45 metres in diameter and up to 1.8 metres in height), are more numerous to the south but more imposing to the north. Due to the frequent cultivation and flooding, many of these structures are no longer visible today.

The first excavations, conducted in 1879 by the Société des amis des arts et des sciences de Tournus under the direction of Jean Martin, explored the tumulus 1 and 2, the largest of the necropolis. Tumulus 1, a simple cluster of earth, housed in its centre a bulb-shaped vase containing calcined bones, as well as an ox skeleton 2 metres from the centre, whose presence (ritual or accidental) remains unknown. The more complex tumulus 2 had a circular wall of buried limestone slabs, with a central urn and a small vase offering, but without traces of human remains.

In 1962, 23 terres were recorded thanks to the Saône floods, but the ploughs and floods of the 1980s erased most of the remains. Only tumulus 1 and 2, classified as historical monuments in 1934, enjoy protection. An emergency excavation in 1986-87 on tumulus 3 and 4 revealed various structures: tumulus 3 had a slab belt of 19 metres in diameter, but its centre had been destroyed by the installation of a lime oven in Roman times. The tumulus 4 contained two ballot boxes with vase offerings and bones calcined in one of them. In 1989, tumulus 35 delivered a lignite bracelet, a globose container and calcined human bones.

Lacrost's tumulus are divided into four types: simple accumulation of soil, with clay heart, with a belt of slabs buried, or with an internal circular wall. The discovered vases, dated from the Bronze Age (c. 800 B.C.), confirm this period, although neolithic flints (c. 2500 B.C.) and Gallo-Roman objects (I-II centuries) attest to a prolonged occupation of the site. Remains of Gallo-Roman houses, sometimes built on tumulus to avoid moisture, have also been identified.

This necropolis is part of a wider funerary context, with other similar sites in the vicinity, such as the Varennes (Lacrost), Ormes, Simandre, or near the River Seille. Exhumed objects, including calcined vases and bones, suggest ritual practices related to incineration. The tumulus, built on areas previously cleaned by fire, reflect a complex spatial and symbolic organization, characteristic of the societies of the late Bronze Age in Burgundy.

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