Dolmen
Anthropomorphic stela

Le Petit Chasseur is the name of a megalithic site in Sion, Valais, Switzerland. Discovered in 1961, it consists of three dolmen, dated to between 2900 and 2200 BC. It is associated with the Saône-Rhône culture, part of the local late Chalcolithic phase (éolithique final valasian). The younger parts of the site are associated with the Bell Beaker horizon, including a cemetery with the remains of about 90 individuals (Dolmen M XII).

Archaeological findings

Archaeologists found six aligned standing stones in La Petit, in July 2019. These standing stones were found accidentally during the construction work of a residential building, in the same area where 30 such stones and the dolmens were found in 1960.[1]

“This discovery is of prime importance to help us understand social rituals at the end of the Neolithic period (around 2,500BC) in central Europe,” was announced from the canton of Valais. According to the press release, a number of stones were noticed to have been intentionally broken.[2]

Three of the standing stones were carved with markings. The largest of the stones assumed to be a male figure wearing geometrically decorated clothes with a sun-like motif around his face is about two tonnes.[3]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sion History museum.
  1. ↑ HeritageDaily (26 July 2019). "Archaeologists uncover alignment of six stelae standing stones". HeritageDaily - Archaeology News. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  2. ↑ swissinfo.ch, S. W. I.; Corporation, a branch of the Swiss Broadcasting. "Standing stones uncovered near important archaeological site". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  3. ↑ "Archéologie – Sion, capitale des mégalithes - Découverte d'un alignement de stèles à l'avenue du Petit-Chasseur". www.vs.ch. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  • Die Schweiz vom Paläolithikum bis zum frühen Mittelalter. Vom Neandertaler bis zu Karl dem Grossen. Band 2: Werner E. Stöckli u. a. (Hrsg.): Neolithikum. Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Basel 1995, ISBN 3-908006-51-1.
  • Harrison R., Heyd V., "The transformation of Europe in the third millennium BC: The example of 'Le Petit Chasseur I & III' (Sion, Valais, Switzerland)", Prähistorische Zeitschrift 82 (2007), 129–214.

46°13′54″N 7°21′05″E / 46.2318°N 7.3514°E / 46.2318; 7.3514

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