In most necropolises from the end of the Gallic period in Champagne a few tombs stand out due to the existence of a structure on posts above the grave. The simplest had 4 posts and only stood over a small tomb, the most imposing could have 22 large diameter posts protecting a vast burial chamber with panelled walls. The funerary objects were in proportion to the size of the structure and the more ostentatious tombs have often attracted robbers.
The largest building acted as the centre point with the other, less imposing structures laid out around it.
Burial chambers could be very large, over 3 metres a side and 1.75 metres deep, as at Vieux-les-Asfeld (Ardennes) for example, and surmounted by an enormous mound surrounded by a ditch twenty metres wide. These were the tombs of the great nobles, owners of large areas of land.
