La principauté celtique du Mont Lassois à Vix. Fouilles 2011-2017

The primary aim of the Vix PCR (collective research programme), as set out in 2001, was to gain a better understanding of the hilltop site of mont Lassois, its extent, its fortification system and its intramural settlement, by resituating the complex within its environment in the open-ended sense of the term (geological and natural, archaeological and cultural). In a second phase, the research was extended to encompass the outlying settlements.

Spectacular results were obtained in each of the areas investigated. One of the most striking findings was the extension of the Hallstattian extra-mural settlement to the localities of “Le Breuil” and “La Navette”. The discovery of a farmstead dating from the middle and late La Tène (the recent phase of the “Le Breuil” site) has enabled us to establish a connection with the necropolis at “Les Tillies”, dating from the same period. Finally, the Hallstatt artisanal area of “Les Renards”, probably one of the economic powerhouses of the princely complex, is a highly promising area for future research.

Thematic summaries on carpology and ceramics (both native and imported) form essential pillars of this new monograph.

At Vix, defensive structures (the “Champ de Fossé” gate, the “Levée 3” rampart and the mud-brick rampart) and domestic structures, most of them monumental, go far beyond their simple utilitarian function and testify to the elite’s intent to assert their social status through prestigious architecture within a highly organized, hierarchical society.

After more than 20 years’ work, most of the initial objectives of the “Vix and its environment” PCR have been met and even exceeded, ranking the Vix/mont Lassois complex among the foremost Celtic principalities of the end of the Early Iron Age. While not all princely sites achieved the same degree of development, some, such as the Heuneburg and mont Lassois, reached a near, albeit incomplete, urban stage that P. Brun and B. Chaume have termed “atelo-urban”.