Sépultures de “pêcheurs” de l'Age du Bronze ancien à Bénouville “les Hautes Coutures” (Calvados)

Le diagnostic d'un lotissement à Bénouville (Calvados), près de l'embochure de l'Orne, a permis la découverte d'un ensemble funéraire associant sept sépultures et un enclos circulaire datés entre a fin du IIIe millénaire et le milieu du IIe millénaire. Trois groupes de sépultures ont été identifiés autour de l'enclos ou directement liés au monument. Trois inhumations disposées dans le fossé d'enclos ont livré un viatique contemporain d'un autre dépôt isolé, et de trois dalles calcaires perforées, identifiées comme de probables pierres de lest ou de mouillage pour des filets ou des embarcations. Les éléments de comparaison recensés permettent de eplacer ce site dans le contexte des pratiques funéraires propers au Bronze ancien. The archaeological diagnosis of a future property development at Bénouville (Calvados), near the Orne etuary, allowed the discovery of a funerary complex associating seven tombs with a circular enclosure dating from the end of the 3rd millennium BC to the mid 2nd millennium (Middle Bronze Age). Three groups of tombs have been identified around the enclosure or directly connected to the monument. Three burials inside the enclosure ditch contained grave goods contemporary with another isolated deposit and three perforated limestone slabs identified as possible weights for nets or anchors. Points of comparison with French and English bibliographies allow us to place these finds in relation to the funerary gestures of the Early Bronze Age. The circular enclosure: The enclosure is delimited by a roughly circular ditch (st. 100. Fig. 3). Its diameter is 13 to 14 m, it width on the surface varies from 1.10 to 1.60 m, its side view is "U shaped" and it is preserved to a depth of 0.40 to 0.70 m. The central area of the enclosure: An oblong pit whose contours are barely visible, aligned east to west, was recorded within the central area of the enclosure. The size of this structure is nearly 6 m in length for an average width of 0.80 m. Two limestone slabs were found at the ends of the structure (east and west). In the hypothesis of a funerary function for this structure, we may suggest that they supported a wooden building. This pit did not contain bones, only a flint hammestone was found at the end of the structure (fig. 4 and 5). The tombs: Three types of tombs were identified: the ones surrounding the enclosure and the others directly connected to the monument (fig 6 and 8). A first group includes three tombs buried in the top layer of the