The anthropomorphic stelae of la Bastidonne (Trets, Bouches-du-Rhone) and their context of the Middle Neolithic

The Trets plain is located in the south-east of France, on the eastern border of Bouches-du-Rhone department. The entire plain contains a large number of Neolithic sites. La Bastidonne was discovered in the 1870s by Joseph Maneille, after the ploughing of a small vineyard located on the plateau at an altitude of 270 m, which brought to light abundant archaeological artifacts (lithic and pottery, now mostly lost), including several fragments of decorated stelae (fifteen according to the oldest publications, of which eleven are currently kept at the Musee d'archeologie nationale of Saint-Germain-en-Laye). This discovery follows that of eight Provencal stelae of la Puagere (Senas, Bouches-duRhone) in 1838. At la Bastidonne, the fragments were found mixed with the remains of possible cremations (ashes and burnt human bones). However, there has always been confusion as to their exact position as the author of the discovery considered that they had come from a destroyed dolmen. Max Escalon de Fonton found smaller fragments of stelae in 1954, during the excavation of a burial to the south-east of the site, then again by Andre D'Anna in 1977-1978. The twenty-first fragment, the discovery of which is not documented, is kept by the Societe d'etudes et de recherches de la haute vallee de l'Arc. Although the fragments make up the most important collection of Neolithic stelae known in the south of France, the stelae of la Bastidonne have only rarely been put into context. Made from a local limestone, which is tender, fine and chalky, the stelae, intended to be seen in an upright position (placed in the ground) and measuring no more than a few dozen centimetres high, were originally trapezoidal or triangular with a flat rectangular section. Engravings of complex geometric shapes (chevrons, fishbone motifs, triangles and rhombuses) cover the stelae, with a smooth sub-rectangular hollow in the middle representing a schematic face. The eyes, nose and mouth are absent in most cases, but the shoulders and the upper part of the bust are sometimes depicted. Traces of red dye were also detected on several fragments in the late 19th century. Four other Provencal stelae, from Le Beaucet and Gargas, in the Vaucluse were also found to have traces of the same dye cinnabar (HgS) or mercury sulphide, which is rare in its natural form. Although it has not been possible to determine the origin of the pigment, Spain and Italy provide several examples of its use in funerary contexts dating to the 5th and the 3rd millennium BC. The remaining traces of cinnabar on the la Bastidonne stelae though not organised show that at least the engraved face and the edges were completely covered. The lithic artifacts unearthed in the mid-1950s and late 1970s at la Bastidonne as well as at Sainte-Catherine - a site located less than 1 km away probably belonging to the same group- are dated to the Middle Neolithic, first half of the 4th millennium BC. Bedoulian flint from Vaucluse (which has been heated or not) is the dominant raw material and Sardinian obsidian (Mount Arci) is also present in small quantities. The assemblage comprises of several dozen geometric bitroncatures, the blades of polished axes made from a green stone from the Alps and beads. The burial excavated by Max Escalon de Fonton has provided characteristic pottery forms (carenated cups, keeled bowls, etc.). Despite their non-stratigraphic position, the stelae of la Bastidonne, like all the fifty stelae or fragments of stelae belonging to the Provencal subgroup B (duranciennes stelae or stelae with chevrons) and dating to between 3900 and 3600 BC, appear as some of the oldest examples of anthropomorphic statuary in the southeast of France and the western Mediterranean. The radiocarbon dates of a new discovery in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence seem to confirm this. The stelae were probably intended to be displayed in small or large groups; their link to the funerary context has not as yet been fully established.