Corail et objets de luxe de La Tène moyenne en Gaule non méditerranéenne. La tombe d’Orval (Manche), les fibules du type de Pleurs, l’enclos de Châteaubernard (Charente)

Abstract

Coral and luxurious artefacts from Middle La Tène period in non-Mediterranean Gaul. Orval grave in Manche department, Pleurs type fibulae, Châteaubernard ditch in Charente department. X-ray fluorescence analysis of platelets decorating some luxury goods clearly dated from La Tène C contexts, mostly from La Tène C1 (and this can be extrapolated to artefacts of a similar nature lacking precise context), reveals that they are indisputably composed of coral, not bone or ivory as it has sometimes been stated. These objects are the harness fittings from the Orval chariot burial (Manche), type Pleurs fibulae from Champagne, the Paris Basin and the Central-Western area, as well as platelets released from their mounting(s) found in a funerary or ritual enclosure at Châteaubernard (Charente). This enduringly important use of coral during La Tène C goes against the commonly accepted assumption that coral imports from the Mediterranean almost dried up in Gaul from the middle of the 3rd century B. C. (Translation E. Thauvin-Boulestin)