In Soustelle, 5,000-year-old chests reduced to dust

À droite, Élisabeth Hébérard constate les dégâts sur l’une des deux tombes détruites après le passage de l’engin forestier. Midi Libre – STEPHANE BARBIER

On private land, due to a lack of signage around the remains, the logging machine crushed the Neolithic tombs of these first inhabitants of the Cévennes.

Bitterness. Wednesday March 27, under cold rain in the Périès sector, Élisabeth Hébérard, president of the Alesian archaeological research group (GARA), noted the damage. After the passage of a forestry machine engaged in felling pine trees on a private plot, the stones of what was the tomb of the first residents of the Cévennes are crushed to the ground…hellip;
" This slab was vertical and formed a chamber with another in parallel. They lay down then were crushed by the machine. There, there was perhaps the bedside slab and then we also see the closing slab or was it the mound of schist slabs around its coffers. This is how chest burials took place in the Neolithic period, designed with local materials found by these first peasants, farmers and breeders. They live on the plain and here, on the edge of the Galeizon, in huts, there are around 5 500 BC. JC "

Christian Privat, municipal councilor of the commune, aware of the rich heritage of the area, is " stunned " while recognizing & ;quot;the concern represented by the numerous private plots in this sector and therefore by owners who may be unaware of the existence of these graves. "
A fortiori, seen from a forestry machine weighing several tonnes while the signage in the heart of the forest is lacking and the legal obligations to clear brush against fires are becoming pressing, an owner does not inform the town hall of his action of cut… Signage, a double-edged question that questions archaeologists.

Here, it was made for eternity. But eternity, there, she received a fart.

" How to do it ? We give a map to each commune ? But in Gara, some did not agree because anyone would be informed of the’ ;existence of graves and there is a risk that some will arrive with metal detectors and cause breakage… "
A dilemma when hundreds of tombs dot the crests of Mortissou, " a sacred mountain " specifies Élisabeth Hébérard. And therefore a heritage to be preserved. Alerted, the regional archeology service must intervene and while waiting, the scene is frozen…
A second hard blow for the town and heritage enthusiasts since " the machines of the Enedis company had already damaged the ancient path which, from Cendras, goes up to Jalcrestre. A transversal reworked during the 18th century so that the royal troops could run after the Protestants! " explains Élisabeth Hébérard.
Since then, the company has committed " to a restoration of the site and this has caused awareness about this heritage, continues Christian Privat. A meeting is planned for April 24 with the PNC, the Alès agglomeration, the Department, in order to think of a “heritage trail” leading to the Ron traoucat site. "
At the end of the day, with an almost tender gesture, Élisabeth Hébérard replaces the stones of the disappeared tumult and breathes: " A Malausette, we have even discovered traces of the Middle Ages in these tombs. Their use, which is evolving, can last 3,000 or 4,000 years! This is known and we are in the megalithic period. These are the first architectures and there is an art of construction there. Here, it was made for eternity. But eternity, there, she received a fart. "

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