Dépôt d'objets

In the middle Rhone Valley, bronze metallurgy appeared around 2100-1900 BC.
At Saint-Priest, in eastern Lyon, on the Feuilly site, archaeologists have unearthed two deposits of bronze objects. The first, contained in a terracotta vase, contains 80 objects, essentially elements of adornment. The second contains nearly 700 pieces, also many objects of adornment (pendants, bracelets, pins...) but also weapons and tools (axes, sickles). Some pieces are intact, others have been deliberately twisted or broken.
Deposit made up of 80 pieces of metal:
- 67 sconces and rings
- 8 pendants and discs
- 2 bracelets
- 1 socket chisel
- 1 pin
- 1 fragment
Although Bronze Age deposits are numerous (more than a thousand in France), their nature is still the subject of debate. Many containing carefully selected objects, sometimes intentionally broken, traditionally interpreted as "smelter's caches", simple stocks of metal destined to be recast, could have had a votive function, linked to a cult.