This study has been carried out thanks to collaboration between the Spanish National Research Council, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the National Accelerator Center from Seville, in order to date Neolithic sites in the North-East of the Iberian Peninsula, in the framework of the research projects “Aproximación a las primeras comunidades neolíticas del NE peninsular a través de sus prácticas funerarias” (HAR2011-23149) and “Aproximación a las primeras comunidades neolíticas del Mediterráneo nordoccidental: construyendo respuesta desde los análisis paleoantropológicos y genéticos” (HAR2015-67323-C2-1-P and HAR2015-67323-C2-2-P) funded by the government of Spain. At the same time, a large part of this paper has been written in the framework of the doctoral thesis of one of the authors, Berta Morell, thanks to a pre-doctoral scholarship from the “Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recera” (FI-DGR2014) funded by the Catalan Government. It should finally be added that this research would never have been possible without the assistance of the Museum of Granollers, where the archaeological remains from Camí de Can Grau are deposited, and especially of its director, Mr. Josep Muntal. Finally, we would also like to thank Mr. Jordi Sala for his help in some formatting issues during the drafting of this paper.

[FR] Camí de Can Grau est l’une des nécropoles néolithiques les plus importantes de l’horizon des « Sépulcres de Fossa » (Nord-Est de la péninsule Ibérique, fin du Ve–début du IVe millénaire cal BC), en raison du nombre élevé de sépultures qui la composent. Cependant, le nombre d’individus enterrés et le type des mobiliers d’accompagnement présentent certaines particularités, qui suggèrent qu’il pourrait s’agir de l’une des dernières manifestations de cet horizon. Pour le démontrer, un programme de datations radiocarbone et d’analyses statistiques a été mis en place afin de déterminer la chronologie du site. Les résultats sont discutés en ce qui concerne la durée d’occupation de la nécropole, le degré de contemporanéité entre les tombes et les mobiliers d’accompagnement et le nombre d’individus inhumés. De plus, des relations chronologiques avec d’autres contextes similaires du même horizon, situés dans d’autres régions, sont présentées. Cette étude va au-delà d’une recherche purement locale, car elle propose une méthode pour aborder la chronologie des contextes funéraires.

[EN] Camí de Can Grau is one of the most important Neolithic necropolises of the “Pit Burials” horizon (North-East of the Iberian Peninsula. Late fifth–early fourth millennia cal BC), because of its large number of graves. However, the number of buried individuals and the type of grave goods of the site have some peculiarities suggesting that could be one of the last manifestations of this horizon. For proving that, a radiocarbon dating programme and some statistical analysis were carried out so as to determine its chronology. The results are discussed regarding the duration of the necropolis, the degree of contemporaneity between graves and grave goods and the number of buried individuals. Moreover, chronological relationships with other similar contexts of the same horizon and located in other regions are presented. This study goes beyond a purely local research, as it proposes a method for addressing the chronology of funerary contexts.

Peer reviewed