Early Bronze Age chieftain burial found in France

"An Early Bronze Age estate with a richly furnished chieftain burial in the town of Ecouche-les-Vallees in northwestern France's Normandy region. It dates to around 1900-1800 B.C. and contains valuable grave goods including arrowheads, daggers and a fragment of a rock crystal pendant. Archaeologists are excavating the site in advance of quarry expansion and have so far unearthed evidence of a Neolithic settlement as well as a grave from the Bronze Age Armorican Tumulus culture."

"The culture is known for the elaborate burials of their elites covered by a mound of earth (hence the name), but their graves had varied designs. Pit graves like this one are common. While the tumuli contained the remains of a single chieftain at the top of social hierarchy, less prominent graves are also deemed chiefly tombs based on the prestigious grave goods they contained."

An Early Bronze Age chieftain's pit grave dating to around 1900–1800 B.C. was excavated at Ecouche-les-Vallees in Normandy and contained rich grave goods including 31 finely crafted Armorican flint arrowheads, two riveted bronze daggers, and a fragment of rock crystal. The tomb was originally covered by a now-lost tumulus and likely belonged to a high-status individual despite lacking skeletal remains due to highly acidic soil. Archaeologists uncovered evidence of an earlier Neolithic settlement and noted regional parallels with nearby exceptional Bronze Age sites such as enclosures at Louce and Moulins, indicating a concentration of elite activity.

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