Archaeologists find one of the largest metal sets of the Bronze Age

Four similarly arranged Late Bronze Age treasures were discovered near Gannat in central France. The sets contain hundreds of bronze artefacts; this is by far the largest hoard of Bronze Age metal objects ever discovered in France. It has also become one of the richest discoveries in the whole of Europe.

The site came to prominence in 2017 when illegal prospectors found their first treasure here. The surviving part of the treasure is now housed in the collection of the Anne de Beaujeu Museum in Moulins. However, the exact location of the find is unknown to experts and therefore cannot be archaeologically explored. In an effort to prevent total devastation of the site, an official archaeological survey was therefore launched in 2019 and has been ongoing continuously ever since.

The archaeological team discovered the remains of an unusually large fortified settlement from the end of the Bronze Age - around 800 BC. The 30-hectare settlement was protected by a double set of walls; probably a wooden palisade with a ditch and a dry stone wall about six metres thick.

Archaeologists found their first treasures here in 2020, when they discovered two intact metal sets in decorated ceramicvessels, which experts say is "extremely rare" for similar sets of this period. The assemblages were removed from the ground in a complete block and first examined non-destructively by CT scan before the contents of the vessels were extracted under laboratory conditions.

Each of the vessels contained dozens of bronze artifacts, the vast majority of which were intact and in excellent condition. The artefacts recovered included axes, knives, daggers, spearheads, as well as jewellery - bracelets, pendants, belt buckles and fittings from chariots and horse harnesses. The objects were carefully arranged in the same style in both vessels. The jewellery was grouped together at the bottom of the vessel, while the next layer consisted of a group of sharp objects (sickles, swords, knives). The axes were placed above them, blade down.

Another interesting exclusivity of the find is the unique presence of river pebbles in both sets. In one vessel white, in the other red. In the context of Bronze Age assemblages, this is the first discovery of its kind ever.

This month, the team uncovered two more intact metal treasures. One was inside a ceramic pot covered with a plate. The other has no shell. This is the storage of the axes in the pit - again, they were placed and arranged in the same way as the axes in the pots from the 2020 discovery; that is, blade down.

Virtually all of the bronze objects are still in excellent condition after 2,800 years: "The axes in particular were little or not used at all," points out Pierre-Yves Milcent of the University of Toulouse, who believes that such objects served as barter, but were also once sacrificed during social ceremonies. For example, at the inauguration of a building, the founding of a new settlement, etc. Finally, he added that "...earthly sacrifices to the gods are a common European custom."

The discovery of a rich site with intact Bronze Age treasures provides archaeologists with a unique opportunity to study the methodology and circumstances of the deposition of metalof metal treasures within Europe, even at sites where neither the graves nor the temples in whose context the treasures are found are known. New finds discovered this summer are still being analysed.

The Allier area is a well-known prehistoric site. The region had considerable economic potential, partly due to the navigable Sioule River and partly due to tin deposits for bronze production. The area has attracted considerable attention. One of the objectives of the research programme is therefore to try to limit the damage caused by looting.

Roman Nemec
Sources: pourlascience.fr, thehistoryblog.com, archaeology.org