The group and the self: a social approach to mortuary costumes in Western Normandy from the 7th to the 3rd cent. BC.

Résumé En

For a long time considered as a mean to identify biological sex in graves, funerary costumes can be understood today as flexible medium of a social discourse. This study focuses on 34 sites dated between the 7th and the 3rd cent. BC. located on the Plaine de Caen (Dép. Calvados/ FR). Based on 972 items from 352 burials, costume analysis later confronted to the wearers’ biological data allows for a sociological analysis in terms of gender, ageing, social status, and group identity. When compared to surrounding regions, this analysis shows that Iron Age funerary costumes on the Plaine de Caen are somewhat original, especially regarding the distinction between male and female and the attention given to children in death. By replacing costumes into their chronological and cultural context, the study aims to examine how the construction of a person’s appearance in death was part of social dialogue regarding personal identity and group membership on a territory scale within the Atlantic area.