Inhumation privilégiée ou opportuniste ? Le cas de l’individu inhumé à l’intérieur du chœur de la chapelle Saint-Laurent de la Capelette (Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône)

Abstract

The interior spaces of the Saint-Laurent de la Capelette chapel in Marseilles were preventively excavated by the Inrap between November 2013 and March 2014. In its initial state, the chapel, built in 1654, corresponded to the present nave before being enlarged with the addition of the choir. Exhaustive excavation of the chapel choir yielded the remains of a single individual. Thanks to a coin minted in 1862 that was found with this individual, we were able to link this burial to a period during which the chapel was no longer a consecrated building. However, the building was still standing at that time. This suggests an opportunistic interment, resulting either from taking advantage of a space that was certainly no longer consecrated but was still, in terms of mental representations, an accessible chapel, or from seizing the opportunity afforded by an unconsecrated but still standing building to bury an individual clandestinely along with their clothes and personal objects. In the latter case, this burial could perhaps be linked to the ill repute of the Capelette district, which has been undergoing major changes since the middle of the 19th century and where poverty and social tensions was part of the daily life of the district’s inhabitants.

Keywords

• funerary practices
• early modern period
• choir area
• cloth burial