Briard, Jacques

Jacques Briard (November 7, 1933 in Saint-Malo, France – June 14, 2002 in Chantepie, France) was a French archaeologist of prehistory. He was a student of Pierre-Roland Giot, the creator of modern Armorican archeology. After his university studies in natural science at the University of Rennes, where he was the friend and partner of Yves Coppens, Jacques Briard entered the National Center of Scientific Research in 1955 as an archaeologist, where he eventually became research director. The numerous excavations in which he participated in and directed, and he directed, in Brittany and elsewhere, made him one of the great Bronze Age specialists in Europe, known for several scientific publications but also for his public outreach. Attached to the Breton culture, he notably collaborated with the publications of Ar Falz and Skol Vreizh (The Sickle/Breton School). In particular, he is credited for the discovery of the princely tomb of tumulus de Kernonen (Plouvorn, Finistère), which contained exceptional wealth. He was decorated with the Ordre de l'Hermine in 1995.