New Thoughts on France’s Tumulus des Sables

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA—According to a Live Science report, a new study of a burial mound discovered on the grounds of a kindergarten in southern France suggests that at least 20 adults and 10 children were interred there over a period of 2,000 years, beginning around 3600 B.C. Isotope analysis of the bones indicates that most of the people buried at the site grew up locally. But Hannah James of Australian National University said it is not clear why the mound, which measured only about 1.6 feet deep, had such lasting significance for the people of the region. Ceramic fragments, metal, and animal bones were also recovered from the mound. To read about another burial mound in France, go to “Tomb of a Highborn Celt.”