The ''Avanton Gold Cone'' or ''Avanton Cone'' (french: Cône d'Or d'Avanton, french: Cône d'Avanton), or ''Avanton gold hat'' is a late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

artefact, belonging to the group of

Golden hats Golden hats (or gold hats) (german: Goldhüte, singular: ) are a very specific and rare type of archaeological artifact from Bronze Age Europe. So far, four such objects ("cone-shaped gold hats of the Schifferstadt type") are known. The objects ...

, only four of which are known so far. The Avanton Cone was the second such object to be discovered (after the Golden Hat of Schifferstadt). It was found in 1844 in a field near the village of

Avanton Avanton () is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. A Bronze Age golden hat was found near Avanton in 1844, see Avanton Gold Cone. It is on display in the National Museum of Archeology in Saint- ...

, about north of Poitiers, France. The object was damaged; comparison with other finds suggests that a part (the brim) is missing. The remaining part of the Avanton cone is long and weighs . Originally dated to the Middle Bronze and suggested to be a

fertility symbol Fertility was often mentioned in many mythological tales. In mythology, fertility deities exist in different belief systems or religions. Fertility deities A fertility deity is a god or goddess in mythology associated with fertility, pregnancy, a ...

, it now appears to be of later date and more complex function (see

). The Avanton Cone is on display in the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale at

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

, near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

References

Tourism website referring to the Avanton Cone
* ''Gold und Kult der Bronzezeit''. (AusstellungsKatalog). Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg 2003. * Wilfried Menghin (ed.): ''Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica.'' Unze, Potsdam 32.2000, S. 31-108. * Peter Schauer: ''Die Goldblechkegel der Bronzezeit – Ein Beitrag zur Kulturverbindung zwischen Orient und Mitteleuropa.'' Habelt, Bonn 1986. Archaeological discoveries in Europe Archaeological discoveries in France Archaeology of Poitiers Bronze Age France Bronze Age gold hats Vienne {{Europe-archaeology-stub

See also

References