The 1953 Vix Grave /
diadem, whose ends are adorned with winged horses on intricate
filigree pedestals and lion paws, inspired by Etruscan, Scythian or Middle Eastern bestiary The burial of "the Lady of Vix" took place around 500 BC Although decomposition of the organic contents of the grave was nearly total, the gender of the individual buried has been interpreted as female: she is accompanied by many items of jewellery, but no weaponry. Her social status is not clear and other than "Lady," names such as,
Queen,
Princess, or
Priestess of Vix have all been used in various articles involving conjecture. There can be no doubt of her high status, as indicated by the large amounts of jewellery. She was between 30 years and 35 years old at the time of her death.
Burial and grave goods The
inhumation burial was placed in a 4 m x 4 m rectangular wooden chamber underneath a mound or
tumulus of earth and stone which originally measured 42 m in diameter and 5 m in height. Her body was laid in the freestanding box of a cart, or
chariot, the wheels of which had been detached and placed beside it. Only its metal parts have survived. Her jewellery included a 480 gram 24-carat gold
torc/
diadem, a bronze torc, six fibulae, six slate bracelets, plus a seventh bracelet made of
amber beads. The grave also contained an assemblage of imported objects from Italy and the
Greek world, all of them associated with the preparation of wine. They included the famous krater (see below), a silver
phiale (shallow bowl, sometimes seen as a local product), an
Etruscan bronze
oinochoe (wine jug), and several drinking cups from
Etruria and
Attica. One of the latter was dated as c. 525 BC and represents the latest firmly dated find in the grave. It thus provides the best evidence, a
terminus post quem for its date. The vessels probably were placed on wooden tables or benches that did not survive.
The Vix krater head is on the outside of each of the krater's two handles The largest and most famous of the finds from the burial is an elaborately decorated bronze
volute krater, in height and weighing . Kraters were vessels for mixing wine and water, common in the Greek world, and usually made of clay. The Vix krater has become an iconic object representing both the wealth of early Celtic burials and the art of Late
Archaic Greek bronze work. • The krater was made of seven or more individual pieces with Greek alphabetical markings, indicating that it probably was transported to Burgundy in pieces and assembled
in situ. • The vase proper, made of a single sheet of hammered bronze, weighs about 60 kg. Its bottom is rounded, its maximum diameter is 1.27 m, and its capacity is 1,100 litres. Its walls are only 1 mm to 1.3 mm thick. The krater was found crushed by the weight of the tumulus material above it. It had telescoped completely: the handles were found at the same level as the base. It was restored after excavation. • Its foot is made of a single moulded piece, its diameter is 74 cm, its weight 20.2 kg. It received the rounded bottom of the main vase and ensured its stability. It is decorated with stylised plant motifs. • The three handles, supported by
rampant lionesses, weighed about 46 kg each. Each is a 55 cm high volute, each is elaborately decorated with a grimacing
gorgon, a common motif on contemporary Greek bronzes. • A frieze of
hoplites decorates the neck of the vessel, which is made of a bronze ring inserted into the main vase and supporting the handles. It depicts eight chariots, each drawn by four horses and conducted by a charioteer (depicted smaller than the hoplites for reasons of space), each is followed by a single fully armed hoplite on foot. The frieze is an important example of early Greek bronze
relief art, which has rarely survived. • The lid was a hammered bronze sheet, weighing 13.8 kg and shaped to fit the krater's opening. It is concave and perforated by multiple holes, probably because it also served as a strainer for purifying wine. A protrusion at its centre supports a 19 cm statuette of moulded bronze, depicting a woman with one outstretched arm, which once may have held some object such as a
plastinx. She wears a
peplos, the body-length
Ancient Greek garment worn by women, and her head is covered by a veil. The statuette appears of a somewhat older style than figures on the rest of the vessel.
Krater significance from the Vix Krater.|251x251px The enormous variety of apparently Mediterranean imports indicates wide-ranging trade connections; in particular, the Mediterranean material might have come to Vix with Greek or Etruscan traders (the krater may have been produced in Sybaris). The wealth of imported luxury goods at Vix is, so far, unique in La Tène Europe. It has been suggested that the krater, the largest known Greek bronze vessel, should be seen in a context of high-status gift exchange connected with the trade of wine from the Mediterranean for raw materials from northern Europe.
Exhibition and reconstruction A reconstruction of the grave and the original finds are on display in the museum at
Châtillon-sur-Seine.
Further tumuli Apart from this woman's grave (mound I), there are five further known large burial mounds in the area. Three of them have been excavated so far. • Mound II had a diameter of 33 m; its central chamber contained an urn with cremated human remains, dated by accompanying finds to c. 850 BC. • The mound of
La Butte probably dates to the mid-sixth century. As in its famous neighbouring grave, it contained a woman laid in a cart, or chariot, accompanied by two iron axes and a gold bracelet. • A third mound, at
La Garenne, was destroyed in 1846. It, too, contained a cart, as well as an Etruscan bronze bowl with four
griffin or lioness handles. It is not known whether it contained skeletal remains.
Statues In 1994, fragments of two stone statues, a warrior, and a figure of a woman, were discovered in a small enclosure. ==Significance of site==