Visage zoomorphe

The grave at Orval (Manche) is today a unique case: the westernmost of the late Early La Tène "chariot graves" ever found in Europe.

Powerful hybrid

This figure would have been arranged on one of the guides of the carriage of a chariot deposited in a Second Iron Age tomb. This zoomorph face, with a long goatee and horns, evokes to Celtic mythology, strongly influenced by the Greco-Roman pantheon. Indeed, this metal element is similar to the heads of the river-god Acheloos that adorned the cauldron discovered in an Iron Age chariot tomb at Lavau. Thus placed on the chariot, this effigy was to bring divine protection to its owner, as well as much prestige.