Altwies " Op dem Boesch ", Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. Occupation du Rubané final et du Campaniforme en bordure de plateau

Jost, Catherine; Hauzeur, Anne; Toussaint, Michel; Brun-Ricalens, Foni Le

doi:10.3406/bspf.2001.12541

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Two graves of the Bell Beaker culture were discovered in 2000, during rescue excavations at Altwies "Op dem Boesch", Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in advance of the construction of Highway A13 near the French border 2 . They were cut in the slope of a Jurassic plateau, c. 275 m in height, offering panoramic views of the valley of the Moselle river, a tributary of the Rhine 43 . While the plateau was densely populated in Early Neolithic times, no trace of occupation beside the two graves could be ascribed to the Bell Beaker period (Luxembourg Final Neolithic) 44,45 .…”

Section: The Adult-child Burial Of Altwies: Archaeological and Anthro...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They were cut in the slope of a Jurassic plateau, c. 275 m in height, offering panoramic views of the valley of the Moselle river, a tributary of the Rhine 43 . While the plateau was densely populated in Early Neolithic times, no trace of occupation beside the two graves could be ascribed to the Bell Beaker period (Luxembourg Final Neolithic) 44,45 . The region between the Saar and the Moselle rivers has yielded over 100 Beaker-period habitation and funerary sites, including those at Sehndorf in Saarland (Germany) and Montenach in Moselle (France), both about 10 km away from Altwies; Beaker graves are usually found isolated or in groups of two to four, more rarely in small necropolises 46,47 .…”

Section: The Adult-child Burial Of Altwies: Archaeological and Anthro...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Biological and substitute parents in Beaker period adult–child graves

Zedda,

Meheux,

Blöcher

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Joint inhumations of adults and children are an intriguing aspect of the shift from collective to single burial rites in third millennium BC Western Eurasia. Here, we revisit two exceptional Beaker period adult–child graves using ancient DNA: Altwies in Luxembourg and Dunstable Downs in Britain. Ancestry modelling and patterns of shared IBD segments between the individuals examined, and contemporary genomes from Central and Northwest Europe, highlight the continental connections of British Beakers. Although simultaneous burials may involve individuals with no social or biological ties, we present evidence that close blood relations played a role in shaping third millennium BC social systems and burial practices, for example a biological mother and her son buried together at Altwies. Extended family, such as a paternal aunt at Dunstable Downs, could also act as ‘substitute parents’ in the grave. Hypotheses are explored to explain such simultaneous inhumations. Whilst intercommunity violence, infectious disease and epidemics may be considered as explanations, they fail to account for both the specific, codified nature of this particular form of inhumation, and its pervasiveness, as evidenced by a representative sample of 131 adult–child graves from 88 sites across Eurasia, all dating to the third and second millennia BC.

show abstract

Section: The Adult-child Burial Of Altwies: Archaeological and Anthro...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Adult-child Burial Of Altwies: Archaeological and Anthro...mentioning

confidence: 99%