VELAUX
Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
Situated 16 km W of Aix-en-Provence. The archaeological
importance of the area comes from the site known as
La Roquepertuse, 1.5 km N-NE. Here a plateau ends
in a limestone shelf facing S-N, shaped in plan like a
sickle with a very narrow handle and a wide hooked
blade. The steepest side rises straight up some 20 m
above the stream of the Arc, ca. 300 m away. The opposite side, which faces SW, forms a concave semicircle
overhanging the terraced slopes; these were built (or
rebuilt) recently, for the most part, to hold the amble
soil. However, the highest one was created in antiquity:
steps lead up to it, and the rocky cliff, a few meters
high, that it backs up against is easily climbed. On the
top of the hill a trench cuts the site, leaving a narrow
crest leading to a few remains of huts, probably marking
the site of a watchtower. Farther down is a little arch
hollowed out by erosion that explains why the site is
also known as Roche percée. In the last century two
stone statues were discovered, both representing a person
sitting cross-legged in a Buddha pose. One has a sort of
short chasuble on his shoulders decorated with a cruciform design, and a scapular on his breast marked with
a radiating cross. The other statue is set on a tablet
decorated with acroteria, which suggest that it too once
stood on a pedestal. Fragments of a similar statue were
unearthed at Rognac in 1909, and since then a number
of similar figures have been found at Entremont and
Glanum. In 1919 a dig, confined to the first two terraces, completed excavation of those statues already known and located a third. The most unusual find was a
polychrome double herm with opposing heads whose
powerful design owes nothing to Classical tradition. Also
found were some carefully quarried stones that seem to
have belonged to a monumental portico (restored in
the Musée d'Archéologie at Marseille, in the Parc Borély). Its pillars have egg-shaped cavities inside which
some human skulls were still set. A fantastic bird is
perched on the lintel, which has an engraved or painted
decoration of animals (horses, birds), plants, or geometric motifs (polychrome checks). The cross-legged figures (gods? priests? worshipers?) may possibly have been placed in front of the portico, sheltered by light
lean-to roofs. At the foot of the wall of the first terrace
are nine tall dolia that served for storage or for keeping
a (ritual?) supply of water. Nearby are the skeletons
of two (sacrificed?) horses, reminding us that the horse
is represented on some symbolic reliefs at Entremont
and Mouriès. It was common practice to exhibit decapitated heads in pre-Roman Provence (Entremont, Glanum, Cadenet). Thus all the evidence makes it appear likely that Roquepertuse was a sanctuary which, having
no settlement of any size itself, was connected with
the oppida nearby (Les Fauconnières, Sainte-Eutropie,
Meynes, Roquefavour). When Rome conquered the territory of the Salyes, the site suffered an extremely violent
attack and was systematically destroyed (ca. 121 B.C.).
Local pottery abounds: dolia, pink or yellow; potsherds
scalloped or decorated with the finger, with twisted or
rolled edges; modeled vases of very black, gritty clay.
More rare is imported ware, from Protocampanian to
Campanian B; there are frequent native imitations. It is
possible that the sanctuary replaced a prehistoric place
of worship (reuse of a menhir and some stelai cut into
pieces); but it certainly developed in Iron Age I and
II (which makes it Celto-Ligurian). Still to be determined
are: the exact area of the site, the place where the portico
was set up, and the age of the anthropomorphic statues.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H. de Gérin-Ricard, “Le sanctuaire de
Roquepertuse,”
Société de statistique . . . de Marseille, volume de Centenaire (1927) 3-53;
Gallia (1960) 295;
(1962) 693; (1969) 446.
H. MORESTIN
