Nécropole des Près-de-l'Eau

The Nécropole des Près-de-l'Eau is a megalithic burial ground at the lieu-dit les Près-de-l'Eau in Lacrost, Saône-et-Loire, France. It covers a area of fifteen hectares on the left bank of the Saône, 700 metres from the river. The necropolis is bordered on the east by the bief of the petite rivière Arvoux.

It originally contained around forty tumuli arranged in three approximate north-south lines parallel to the river. The mounds, more numerous in the south but larger in the north, ranged from 5 to 45 metres in diameter and from a few centimetres to 1.8 metres in height. Farming and flooding have made many no longer visible. Tumuli 1 and 2 have been listed as monuments historiques since 4 May 1934.

Excavations began in 1879 under Jean Martin. Tumulus 1 held an onion-shaped vase and cremated bones, while tumulus 2 contained a buried circular limestone wall and a larger urn with a small offering vessel. Further investigation in 1986-1987 and 1989 found a ring of upright slabs in tumulus 3, two urns in tumulus 4, and a lignite barrel bracelet, a globular vessel, and cremated human bones in tumulus 35.

The pottery places the principal burial activity around 800 av. J.-C. All the excavated tumuli stood on ground cleared by fire, and three of the five excavated mounds yielded human remains. The site also contains worked Neolithic flints, an arrowhead from the end of the Âge de la Pierre Polie towards 2500 av. J.-C., later Gaulish material, and Gallo-Roman houses. These finds show repeated use of the place over a long period.

Nécropole des Près-de-l'Eau is a megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones) in Lacrost, France. Wikidata describes it as: tumulus located in Saône-et-Loire, in France. A typological estimate: 5000 BCE to 3000 BCE. No English Wikipedia article exists for it; the full text below is the French article "Nécropole des Près-de-l'Eau", shown in the original language.