Meeting on the Funerary Landscape from Prehistory to Antiquity

The proceedings of the 14th GAAF Meeting, dedicated to Funerary Landscapes from Prehistory to Antiquity, are now available for purchase !

The simplest and most ordinary landscape is at once social and natural, subjective and objective, spatial and temporal, a material and cultural production, both real and symbolic. Landscape is a system that straddles the natural and the social. It is a social interpretation of nature.” Georges Bertrand.

How should we conceive of the funerary landscape? It may seem commonplace to state that it is both natural and social, yet it remains important to emphasize its environmental dimension, which provides a setting that people can appropriate, including at the particular moment marked by the death of a member of a community. Is not the fate of many deceased individuals permanently linked to the earth through burial? This broad topic is difficult to approach archaeologically because this landscape, unlike most others, results from a multitude of factors. It combines natural elements (vegetation, topography, water, etc.), funerary systems, and social structures and cultural practices. Archaeological evidence is often fragmentary and elusive. Indeed, few traces of simple or complex burial features—such as funerary monuments, pathways, or vegetation—have survived through the centuries. While the various components of funerary spaces were undoubtedly visible and meaningful to their users, they remain difficult to identify through archaeological investigation. Nevertheless, funerary archaeology possesses several advantages. The increasing number of preventive and research excavations, sometimes covering extensive areas, enables the exploration of diverse territories over the long term. Such investigations reveal the complete life cycle of landscapes temporarily dedicated to funerary activities: their creation, continuity, and transformation once the dead have been forgotten.

This meeting of the GAAF follows a previous conference devoted to later periods, namely the medieval and modern eras. By adopting a long-term perspective extending from Prehistory to Antiquity, it encompasses societies known through written or iconographic sources as well as those for which no such evidence exists. To address these issues, three thematic axes are proposed: one explicitly methodological axis and two others focusing on the internal and external dimensions of funerary spaces. The first examines the necropolis from within, where the landscape serves as the setting for the burial of the dead. The second explores the place of funerary space—whether visible or concealed—within the broader landscape of a territory. Contributions may address methodological, thematic, or chronological perspectives. All disciplines relevant to these questions are welcome, including archaeology, anthropology, palaeoenvironmental sciences, genetics, dating methods, geophysics, and LiDAR studies.

Presentations and discussions will be organized around three main themes:

• What methods can be used to reconstruct the natural and anthropogenic components of funerary spaces (written sources, palaeoenvironmental studies, survey methods, etc.)?
• The internal landscape of the necropolis: the grammar of social, symbolic, and technical uses of funerary spaces.
• Funerary spaces/landscapes and territory: visibility, function, and networks.

Published in : 2026

Directed by :

• C. FOSSURIER
• R. LABEAUNE
• C. LAFOREST
• I. LE GOFF
• V. TAILLANDIER
• A. THOMAS

Scientific committee : Valérie Bel (Inrap, UMR 5140 ASM), Lola Bonnabel (Inrap, UMR 8215 Trajectoires), Philippe Chambon (CNRS, UMR 7206 Éco-anthropologie), Jean-Philippe Chimier (Inrap, UMR 7324 Citeres), Geneviève Daoulas (Inrap, UMR 7209 AASPE), Fabien Delrieu (SRA Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, UMR 5138 ArAr), Carole Fossurier (Inrap, UMR 7268 ADÉS), Mathieu Gaultier (Sadil, UMR 7324 Citeres), Antony Hostein (EPHE, UMR 8210 AnHimMA), Yannick Labaune (Service Archéologique de la Ville d’Autun, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), Régis Labeaune (Inrap, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), Caroline Laforest (Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, UMR 5199 PACEA), Isabelle Le Goff (Inrap, UMR 7206 Éco-anthropologie), Sophie Martin (Inrap, UMR 5140 ASM), Pierre Nouvel (Université de Bourgogne-Europe, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), Rebecca Peake (Inrap, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), François-Xavier Simon (Inrap, UMR 6249 Chrono-environnement), Valérie Taillandier (InSitu Archéologie SA, UMR 6249 Chrono-environnement), Marc Talon (SRA Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, UMR 8164 HALMA), Aline Thomas (MNHN, UMR 7206 Éco-anthropologie), William Van Andringa (EPHE, UMR 8546 AOrOC)

Reviewing committee : Stéphane Alix (Inrap, UMR 6249 Chrono-environnement), Florie-Anne Auxerre-Géron (Inrap, UMR 5608 TRACES), Valérie Bel (Inrap, UMR 5140 ASM), Reine-Marie Bérard (CR CNRS, UMR 7299 Centre Camille Jullian, Aix-Marseille univ.), Nathalie Buchez (Inrap, UMR 5608 TRACES), Mathilde Carrive (Université de Poitiers, UR 1571 laboratoire HeRMA), Mathilde Cervel, Philippe Chambon (CNRS, UMR 7206 Éco-anthropologie), Jean-Philippe Chimier (Inrap, UMR 7324 Citeres), Olivier Collette (Agence Wallonne du Patrimoine, Service Public de Wallonie), Michel Dabas (UMR 8546 AOrOc, CNRS, ENS-EPHE (PSL)), Geneviève Daoulas (Inrap, UMR 7209 AASPE), Bernard Dedet (UMR 5140 ASM, CNRS), Fabien Delrieu (SRA Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, UMR 5138 ArAr), Philippe De Smet (Ghent University, Department of Environment ORBit), Carole Fossurier (Inrap, UMR 7268 ADÉS), Mathieu Gaultier (Sadil, UMR 7324 Citeres), Emmanuel Ghesquière (Inrap, UMR 6566 CreAHH), Peter Henrich (Rheinische Landesmuseum Trier), Antony Hostein (EPHE, UMR 8210 AnHimMA), Michel Kasprzyck (Inrap, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), Yannick Labaune (Service Archéologique de la Ville d’Autun, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), Régis Labeaune (Inrap, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), Caroline Laforest (Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, UMR 5199 PACEA), Bernard Lambot, Isabelle Le Goff (Inrap, UMR 7206 Éco-anthropologie), Emmanuelle Leroy-Langelin (Département du Pas-de-Calais, UMR 8164 HALMA), Sophie Martin (Inrap, UMR 5140 ASM), Damien Martinez (Université Lumière Lyon 2, UMR 5648 / CIHAM – MSH Lyon Saint-Etienne), Pierre Nouvel (Université de Bourgogne-Europe, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), Sophie Oudry (Inrap, UTML&A, Unité de Taphonomie médico-légale et Anatomie, ULR 7367), Cécile Paresys (Inrap, UMR 7264 Cépam), Caroline Partiot (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Department of Historical Archaeology, Austrian Academy of Sciences), Rebecca Peake (Inrap, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS), Mafalda Roscio (Université de Lille, UMR 8164 HALMA), Pascal Sellier (UMR 7206 Éco-Anthropologie, Musée de l’Homme), François-Xavier Simon (Inrap, UMR 6249 Chrono-environnement), Nathalie Soupart (Inrap, UMR 8164 HALMA), Valérie Taillandier (InSitu Archéologie SA, UMR 6249 Chrono-environnement), Marc Talon (SRA Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, UMR 8164 HALMA), Aline Thomas (MNHN, UMR 7206 Éco-anthropologie), Nicolas Tisserand (Inrap, UMR 6298 ARTEHIS)

Scientific and financial partners : Le Groupe d'anthropologie et d'archéologie funéraireDRAC - Service régional de l'archéologie Bourgogne - Franche-ComtéDépartement de la Côte-d'OrUMR 6298 ARTEHIS, Université de Bourgogne, CNRS, ministère de la CultureUMR 8164 HALMAUMR 6249 Chrono-environnement, Université Marie et Louis Pasteur, CNRSUniversité de BourgogneVille de DijonMinistère de la Culture - DRAC Bourgogne-Franche-ComtéUMR 7268 ADÉS, Aix-Marseille univ., CNRS, EFS, Marseille, FranceUMR 7206 Éco-anthropologie, MNHN, CNRS, Université Paris-Cité, Musée de l'Homme Paris, France

Number of pages : 486

ISBN / ISSN : 978-2-9541526-9-1

To cite this document : Rencontre autour du paysage funéraire de la Préhistoire à l’Antiquité, Actes du colloque de Dijon, 12 avril -14 avril 2023, publiés sous la direction de C. FOSSURIER, R. LABEAUNE, C. LAFOREST, I. LE GOFF, V. TAILLANDIER, A. THOMAS ; XIVe Rencontre du Gaaf - Publication du Gaaf n°14 ; ISBN : 978-2-9541526-9-1; 486p. Broché