Chassey

a Neolithic archaeological culture (fourth and third millennia B.C.) in the southern part of central France. Named after the finds near the village of Chassey in the department of Saone-et-Loire, the Chassey culture was contemporaneous with the Lagozza culture of northwestern Italy and the Cortaillod culture of eastern France and Switzerland. It is characterized by implements made of small flint plates and by polished axes made of hard rocks. The pottery had simple shapes (plates, bowls, spherical vessels), mostly with rounded bottoms and with no decorations. Copper objects are rare. Initially the settlements were in caves and under the open sky. In the later stages, settlements built on high ground or on promontories and fortified with earthen banks and ditches appeared. Burials were in caves, dolmens, or cists.