Mormont

Le Mormont, is a hill rising to an altitude of 604 metres above both the villages of Éclépens and La Sarraz, canton of Vaud, between Yverdon-les-Bains and Lausanne, in Switzerland.

Watershed between the Rhone and the Rhine Basins

Le Mormont separates the valley of la Venoge (the only canton of Vaud river that flows into the Rhone through the Lake of Geneva), from the valley of the Orbe, tributary of the Rhine, through the Lake of Neuchâtel, the Thielle, the Lake of Bienne and the Aar.

The Entreroche canal

In the 17th Century, the Entreroche canal was dug out through the Mormont. It was necessary to enable water transportation between the Rhone and the Rhine rivers, connecting the Venoge to the Lake of Neuchâtel. All those disaffected works have now disappeared under the outgrowth of vegetation.

Origin of the name

Its origin remains uncertain, although the first syllable ‘’mor’’ seems to come from a pre-Celtic root, under the denomination of ‘’maru’’ in the ancient sanscrit, meaning both mountain and moorland (old high German muor, moor = moorland, marshland).

Celtic sanctuary

About a century B.C., the Mormont hill hosted a Celtic sanctuary consisting of 260 pits dug into the earth. Human skeletons in a folded position, isolated skulls, bones of oxen and horses were found, meddled^{[clarification needed]} with vestiges of ceramic bowls, Celtic and Roman coins, receptions in bronze, jewellery, iron tools, metallic slag and numerous stony grinding wheels.

See also

• Helvetii
• La Tène
• Swiss plateau
• Jura water correction

Sources and references

• [1] fr: Le sanctuaire celtique de Mormont
• [2] fr: Le Mormont Grandeur et misère d’un sanctuaire helvète
• [3] fr: Vaud: Le Mormont: Sanctuaire celtique
• [4] fr: Montagnes romandes: à l'assaut de leur nom

Coordinates: 46°39′25.42″N 6°32′16.84″E / 46.6570611°N 6.5380111°E / 46.6570611; 6.5380111