Animals in funeral practices in Belgic Gaul between the end of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 5th century AD: From gallic practices to Gallo-Roman practices

Excavations over the past 10 years in what is today the north of France have uncovered numerous cemeteries dating from the end of the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD, allowing archaeologists to compile a remarkable body of finds that permits us to describe a part of the activities conducted at the time of the funeral. A corpus of 20 cemeteries with a combined total of 464 tombs with animal remains is available. Data from these cemeteries make it possible to better understand the place of animals in funeral rituals, and they allow us to observe changes that took place over the course of the terminal La Tène and the Roman period in the positioning of animal remains in tombs and in the presence of animal species and anatomical parts. They also allow us to compare practices in northern France with contemporaneous practices in Italy.