The old garden of a convent had turned into a simple earth and stone theater over time. Within it, archaeologists from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), during their excavations, came across intriguing vestiges. Gauls buried in a sitting position, their looks frozen towards the western horizon and a necropolis specially dedicated to children.
This exhumation is perhaps a little less spectacular than the recent discovery of the fortress of Dmanisis Gora or those of the cylinders of Tell Umm-El Marra, but it is nonetheless uarchaeological discovery of great importance.
An unknown funeral ritual?
It is the vertical arrangement of the bodies; dated between 450 and 25 BC;; which constitutes the strangest element of this discovery. Indeed, throughout European territory, only twelve similar cases have been listed : new in France and three in Switzerland. Most of the Gallic tombs of this period contain incinerated or buried bodies in the horizontal position. This archaeological find is therefore extremely rare, and gives it invaluable value.
To explain this mortuary staging, Inrap experts issue several hypotheses : These deceased may have held eminent functions in Gallic society, whether in the political or religious sphere. The other privileged track suggests their belonging to a distinctive family line, whose funeral rites would have deferred current practices of the time.

A children’s cemetery
A few steps from these tombs extended a somewhat special necropolis, dated from the 1st century AD, Ultimate home of 22 children who left before their first birthday. These juvenile burials, although partially altered, still delivered some precious clues to the funeral practices of our ancestors.
The small bodies, arranged on the back or the side according to traditional uses, rested in wooden coffins which only have survived the nails and the stone reinforcements. Some graves received touching offerings: coins and ceramics accompanied these young souls in their eternal journey.
The site also was receiving other treasures dating from various times. Plantation pits of the Gallo-Roman time, used to grow trees or other plants, as well as cattle skulls dating from the 16th and eighteenth centuries. These skulls are perhaps proof that this space had been converted into butcher’s shop during the Renaissance.
In recent years, Inrap has not been idle. A gold ring was found in a bronze age site in Brittany during excavations made in Pacé, Ille-et-Vilaine, and more recently, the Institute fell on A real gem of French history. In 2022 had been identified two lead sarcophagi under the slabs of Notre-Dame de Paris during its catering. The latter respectively housed the remains of the poet and rider Joachim du Bellaydied in 1560, and those ofAntoine de la Porteecclesiastical figure disappeared in 1710.
- Archaeologists have discovered in Dijon for rare Gallic burials where the deceased were seated, an almost unknown funeral practice in Europe.
- Nearby, an ancient cemetery housing the remains of 22 infants was also uncovered.
- Other vestiges (Gallo-Roman agricultural structures, cattle skulls dating from the Renaissance), prove that the site has evolved over the centuries.