Home > Destinations > The Vallée des Merveilles

The Vallée des Merveilles

Given its remote location amid the impressive peaks of what is nowadays the Mercantour National Park, it is not fully understood what drew early Man to cover considerable distances to reach the Vallée des Merveilles ('Valley of Marvels').

Whatever it was, he left much evidence of his visits in the form of tens of thousands of carvings on the differently coloured rocks which give a fascinating insight into his customs and beliefs. With a registered guide, you can see some of these carvings for yourself, and discover the other 'marvels' of the valley on a guided walk.

The Mercantour National Park

The Vallée des Merveilles lies within the Mercantour National Park, a region full of contrasts - olive groves, small glaciers, thick forests, craggy peaks, twisting gorges and alpine meadows can all be found in a relatively small area. Close to the Italian border, the villages of the park, their architecture and their churches combine Ligurian, Provençal and Alpine influences. The fauna of the park is very rich. Roe deer and wild boar shelter in the forests, chamois, ibex and mouflons roam the higher altitudes, marmots dig burrows in the alpine meadows, and a small number of wolves have taken refuge in the park's remotest corners. Furthermore, nineteen of the twenty-nine species of European species of bat have been recorded in the park. Birds of prey that patrol the skies include the peregrine falcon, the golden eagle and the bearded vulture or lammergeyer. The park's flora is even more diverse - around 2000 plants have been identified, including 200 rarities and 30 endemic species. A relict of the Tertiary Age, the Bérard thistle has survived by adapting to the colder climate, while the endemic Saxifraga florulenta Moretti, isolated on cliffs during glaciation, has also evolved here. Of the 150 orchid species found in France, 63 can be found in the park.

The Vallée des Merveilles and its rock carvings

Once a place that was much feared - in the Middle Ages it was said that the valley was inhabited by demonic creatures who wrote on the rocks and that anyone entering it would bring bad luck on the local area - the Vallée des Merveilles is now recognised as an archaeological site of the greatest importance.

The first person to study the rock carvings systematically was an Englishman, Clarence Bicknell. Between 1897 and 1918 he recorded 12,000 carvings, some of them 30-50 centimetres below the ground. A later study revealed 36,000 carvings, and yet another 45,000, leading some researchers to estimate that there could be as many as 100,000 carvings in the area. Five categories have been established to classify the carvings: (horned) animals (60% of all carvings); weapons and tools (such as daggers, halberds, axes, sickles, scythes and hammers; 21% of all carvings); geometric shapes (14%); human figures (1%); carvings with no meaning (4%). All are schematic, very simplified forms, somewhere between figurative and abstract art.

Almost two thirds of all carvings are of horned animals, of which the majority are bulls or oxen, though other types that are thought to be rams and goats have been found (this latter group have downward-pointing horns). Some carvings consist of just a head and horns, while others also have a body, legs and tail. In both types, the greatest care has been taken over the drawing of the horns, the length of which has often been exaggerated. Some carvings of bulls and oxen show the animals pulling a plough, occasionally with a man following behind. From such depictions, archaeologists have concluded that at least some of the visitors to the valley were farmers.

Of the carvings of weapons and tools found, by far the most common type is the dagger, representing 18% of all types of carvings found. Most of the daggers have a triangular blade, though the length of this varies between carvings. Because the carvings are quite life-like as regards size and shape, it is thought that the dagger may have been held against the rock as a guide. A far less common type of carving that has nevertheless caused much discussion is that of an object with a long, thin handle and a narrow blade. Given the agricultural theme of so many other carvings, some believe that these are scythes. However, other archaeologists have argued that scythes were not used in this region until the Iron Age. Alternatively, such carvings could be of halberds, a sort of ceremonial battleaxe. The issue will remain unresolved until such an object is uncovered in an archaeological dig.

While the interpretation of carvings of animals and tools has proved relatively straightforward, archaeologists have only been able to hypothesise as regards the meaning of the geometrical carvings found. Such squares, circles and oval shapes are commonly divided into several 'compartments', some of which have dots in them. Though some have suggested that these are plans of dwellings or traps, it is now widely believed that they are in fact animal enclosures, the dots representing animals. The discovery of enclosures of a similar shape lends support to this second hypothesis. The same camp that sees the basic geometric carvings as enclosures believes that the second, more elaborate type of geometric carving represents plans of villages and thus shows how villages were organised, with livestock kept away from the crops. Also falling into this category, a very small number of concentric circles and star-like carvings have been found, suggesting a fascination with the sun and astrology. However, because such carvings are so rare, there can be no talk of a cult that worshipped the sun and stars.

The rarity of carvings of people suggests that superstition prevented these early settlers from depicting themselves in their carvings. The small number of carvings of humans that have been found all show the figures with raised arms, which has led some to believe that the few men who were depicted in carvings were tribal leaders, shown in the act of communicating with the gods. Five 'grandes figures' have been found, of which the three most researched are commonly referred to as Christ, the Tribal Chief and the Sorcerer simply because this is what they remind modern-day researchers of. The Christ was modified at different periods, starting as a horned animal, then a geometric shape, then finally a face, the head of the original animal forming a beard. Similarly, the Tribal Chief carving could have originated as several horned animal heads of varying sizes. A huge dagger protrudes from the chief's head. Either the dagger is an entirely separate carving, or it symbolises a sacrificial ceremony or other ritual. The Sorcerer has eyes, a nose, a mouth and a beard, and his arms are stretched above his head with the fingers spread.

Finally, the non-representative category includes single lines, quite possibly carvings that were started and never finished, and small cup-like symbols. The latter is a symbol that has been found at other prehistoric sites, and it is believed that these predate the majority of other carvings found in the valley. Numerous interpretations of such symbols abound: was it some kind of game, a counting system, a means of communication, a basic ritual?

For the most part, the location and grouping of different carvings seems entirely haphazard. However, statistical analyses of carvings found together on the same rock show significant numbers of daggers next to horned animals, horned animals with geometric symbols, halberds or scythes with human figures, and daggers with human figures, which suggests some simple form of narrative.

All the carvings described so far were made by making a series of indentations in the rock, either with a stone or a metal object. The differences between carvings in terms of depth, size of individual indentations and overall quality suggest two techniques: chipping away at the rock directly with the lump of rock or metal held in the hand, or chiselling. The latter allows greater precision, in turn allowing greater detail and better quality. Four styles have been identified: good-quality carvings made with small, regular, shallow indentations (7%), predominantly of horned animals, plus occasional geometric shapes; carvings made with irregular, larger and deeper indentations (73%), most commonly of horned animals, though weapons and geometric shapes are much more numerous than in the first style; carvings made with very irregular indentations (20%), of similar numbers of horned animals and geometric shapes, but far fewer weapons; linear strokes scored into the rock (0.01%). The fact that some neater carvings have been modified using more irregular indentations shows that the first style is the oldest.

A great deal of other research has been undertaken to date the carvings. By comparing carvings of weapons with real weapons whose date is known, archaeologists have shown that in general the carvings dated from the Neolithic Era to the middle of the Bronze Age (ie 2500-1500 BC), with the majority made in the early Bronze Age (1800-1600BC). Short triangular blades with a (trapezoidal) handle date from the Copper Age and very early Bronze Age. Long triangular blades with narrow trapezoidal handles date from the early Bronze Age, while oval or rounded blades with narrow handles were used in the middle Bronze Age. No carvings of weapons used in the late Bronze Age have been found. However, given the basic chronology established by analysing the different styles which shows that carvings of weapons gradually disappeared, it can be assumed that carvings were still made in the late Bronze Age and Iron Age but that they were of horned animals and geometric shapes. Indeed, carvings of scythes may well date from the Iron Age as archaeologists believe they were not used until this time in this region.

Taking all this into account, it is possible to show how the carvings developed over time:
2500BC: the first carvings made (horned animals and weapons)
2000-1800BC (early Bronze Age): gradual proliferation of carvings (horned animals, weapons, the first geometric shapes, ploughs and human figures)
1800-1450BC (middle Bronze Age): the period of greatest activity, during which new carvings of all categories were made, and the modification of older carvings began
1450-900BC (late Bronze Age): carvings of weapons decrease markedly while there is increasing modification of earlier carvings
90-14BC (Iron Age): the last carvings made; some linear images scored in the rock

Finally, though researchers have been able to interpret and date the carvings, they can only guess as to the identity of the artists and their intentions. The discovery of rock paintings and carvings at various sites throughout Europe shows that it was a widespread practice, but why are the paintings and carvings limited to a few very specific sites such as the Vallée des Merveilles? One hypothesis is that Mount Bégo (2,872 metres), the mountain that dominates the Vallée des Merveilles region, held a special significance to early man. Surrounded by awe-inspiring landscapes and with dramatic thunderstorms common over its summit, it could have been seen as having divine powers. Perhaps, given the proliferation of carvings of bulls and oxen, it was seen as the seat of a king or god of bulls, or maybe even Taurus himself, and thus the focus of a cult of bull-worship linked to fertility, the bull being a symbol of virility which, when it ploughs the fields, fertilises the Earth. Etymologists support this thesis: the root 'Beg' means the dominator, the summit, the god, or the end point of a horn. There are also those who see links to 'bovine' and other related words in the word 'Bégo'. Furthermore, a stream runs down the side of the mountain whose old name was Béonia, which could be translated as 'river of the bulls'. It could be then, that people came to this sacred area at certain times of the year to carve pictures of bulls and scenes of labour into the rocks to guarantee good yields. The difficult access to the valley made it some sort of trial, rather like a pilgrimage, a sign of one's devotion to the gods.

< To the top of this page

< Back to Alps to the Mediterranean Itinerary