An archaeo-zoological study has been carried out on the Michelsberg site of Crécy-sur-Serre, an enclosure dating from the Early Michelsberg. The results show that the fauna consists mostly of detritus, but also of voluntary deposits of bones. The list of species shows a predominance of domestic animals, with cattle being the main animal resource in use, followed by pigs and goats. The proportion of wild animals reaches 20,8 %, which is a high rate for this period. Among the big game, it is the stag that predominates, followed by the boar and the aurochs, whereas the roe deer appears very rarely; the small game is fairly varied, with a predominance of beaver and hare. A study of the spatial distribution of the bones shows the existence of two large concentrations probably corresponding to main passage-ways, and a distinctive distribution of the remains of certain species such as the aurochs have been noted: bovine bones in association with a pot, the isolated skull of a goat, pigs’ jawbones, an antler pick and lastly some burnt splinters of bones which appear to testify to certain particular gestures.

Traduction : Margaret & Jean-louis CADOUX