Long Description:[FR] Apres avoir ete reperee lors de sondages en 1912, elle fut
entierement et consciencieusement fouillee en 1926 par
l'archeologue Bernard Bottet, resident alors a l'Isle-Adam.
Longue de 14m, delimitee par 20 blocs verticaux (orthostates) de
gres ou de calcaire parfois separes de plaquettes de pierre, elle
presente encore 3 grandes dalles de couverture en place, dont la
premiere est un ancien polissoir reemployee (rainurages sur la face
inferieure, lies a une activite de polissage, de hache par
example). Le sol du caveau etait soigneusement pave, a l'exception
d'une bande vers le fond (chevet), correspondant probablement a une
ancienne paroi de bois. Le "trou d'homme" de la dalle d'entree est
remarquable : il est borde d'une rainure (feuillure) et de deux
perforations qui indiquent un systeme de fermeture amovible, dont
le "bouchon" pourrait etre un petit bloc de gres recueilli a la
fouille.
Le caveau renfermait les ossements d'une centaine de personnes.
Ils etaient generalement disloques, mais des regroupements de
cranes ou des fagots d'os longs disposes le long des parois
evoquent un systeme de petites niches. Une lamelle de silex fichee
dans une vertebre et un crane defonce de deux coups de hache,
illustrent les circonstances, violentes, de la mort de deux
individus.
En revanche, plusieurs cas de fractures ressoudees ou de
trepanations, dont une cicatrisee, temoignent de soins "medicaux"
prodigues aux vivants.
Un riche mobilier fut egalement recueilli : poteries, fleches de
silex tailles et haches polies, poincons en os, pendentifs en
schiste, perles d'os ou de nacre, molaire de sanglier perforee et
coquilles marines ... Ayant appartenu aux defunts ou disposes comme
offrandes, ces objets sont frequemment presents dans ce type
d'inhumation.
La Pierre-Plate a ete classe Monument historique en 1932. Elle
resta cependant abandonee, jusqu'a sa restauration en 1970 par le
service regional de l'archeologie qui proceda a d'ultimes
recherches.
A cette occasion, une datation sur os humain (entre 2564 a 2037
avant notre ere) et une reprise de l'etude du mobilier ont montre
que la sepulture, mise en place au cours de la civilisation
Seine-Oise-Marne du Neolithique final, avait ete reutilisee au
Chalcolithique, durant le IIe millenaire avant notre ere.
De par sa taille et la qualite de sa conservation lors de sa
decouverte, La Pierre-Plate, regulierement entretenue par l'Office
National des Forets, est une des allees sepulcrales les plus
spectaculaires de la region.
[EN] After having been located during surveys in 1912, it was
entirely and conscienciously excavated in 1926 by the archeologist
Bernard Bottet, who was residing then at Isle-Adam.
14m long, lined by 20 vertical blocks of sandstone or limestone
sometimes separated by smaller stone plates, it still retains in
place 3 large covering slabs, of which the first was reemployed
after serving to polish objects (evidenced by grooves on the
underside linked to polishing activities, of axes for example). The
floor of the grave was carefully paved, with the exception of a
strip towards the back, probably corresponding to an ancient wood
wall. The entry slab "manhole" is remarkable : it is encircled by a
groove and two perforations which indicate a removable closing
system, of which the "stopper" could be a small block of sandstone
recovered from the excavation.
The grave contained the bone fragments of around 100 persons.
They were generally dislocated, but groupings of skulls or bundles
of long bones arranged along the walls suggests a system of small
niches. A flint blade sticking out of a vertebrae and a skull
smashed by two ax blows illustrate the violent circumstances
surrounding the death of two individuals.
On the other hand, many cases of reattached fractures or
trephinations, one of which healed, testifies to the "medical" care
administered to the living.
A rich collection of artifacts was also recovered : pottery,
chipped flint arrows and polished axes, bone awls, schist pendants,
beads made of bone or mother of pearl, the drilled molar of a wild
boar and sea shells ... Having belonged to the deceased or left as
offerings, these objects are frequently present in this type of
burial.
The Pierre-Plate was classified as an historical monument in
1932. It remained, nevertheless, abandoned, until its restauration
by the regional archeological service in 1970 which carried out the
last studies.
At that time, the dating of human bones (between 2565 and 2037
B.C.) and further study of the artifacts revealed that the grave,
originally used during the course of the Seine-Oise-Marne
civilization of the late Neolithic age, was reused in the
Chalcolithic age, during the 2nd millenium B.C.
By virtue of its size and the degree of preservation at the time
of its discovery, the Pierre-Plate, regularly maintained by the
National Forest Office, is one of the most spectacular passage
graves in the region.