Les sarcophages de plâtre d’Allonnes (Eure-et-Loir) : un enrichissement de la chrono-typologie funéraire régionale

Abstract

A rescue excavation in the village of Allonnes (Eure-et-Loir) led to the discovery of a portion of a large Merovingian necropolis, as well as several smaller groups of tombs located in its periphery. The excavation allowed to characterize the funerary occupation both spatially and chronologically, and it provided information on the burial practices. In particular, it led to the discovery of several plaster sarcophagi, grouped in one of the peripheral sepulchral sets. Whereas this type of burials is well documented in Île-de-France and Normandy, its use in Central France was until now only known from ancient discoveries. Such a type of burials was not reported in any of the regional chrono-typological studies published to date. The discovery made in Allonnes enriches the archaeological knowledge about the diversity of the early medieval funerary practices in this geographic area.

Keywords

• plaster sarcophagus
• burial practices
• chrono-typology
• early Middle Ages
• Eure-et-Loir