Description : The Merovingian necropolis of Brigandin is located in the current commune of Chaumes-en-Retz ( delegated commune of Chéméré ), in Loire-Atlantique . It is located near a mill built in the xix th century and still visible today. Known since the xix th century, this cemetery was the subject of several excavation campaigns since 1968 by state services. The last excavation campaign dates from 2008. The area of the site is estimated at 7,700 m 2 , ie a rectangle of 110 × 70 m . 1,500 m 2were searched and 421 skeletons were exhumed. The studied graves are attributed to early Middle Ages , vi th - vii th century. It is likely that this cemetery is that of the medieval village of Chéméré. The location of the village of Chéméré for the High Middle Ages is not known. If the Brigandine necropolis (tombs, funerary practices, furniture) corresponds to what is observed for the west of Gaul at that time, the anthropo-morphological study of the population has revealed particularities.
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