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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The engraved rock of Brécy, also known as the shelter of the Frank warrior, is an archaeological site located in the Châtelet wood, on a hill of sand and sandstone at the place called the Pierre à Contrat. The engravings, dated from the end of the 5th century, represent a cascaded free warrior, armed with a Franciscan and a fragrant, surrounded by symbols such as a svastika and arms sharpening furrows. A second, smaller character is sketched to the left, while Latin crosses and a Christian IHS (later added) testify to an attempt to Christianize the sign. The site, discovered in 1958, delivered during excavations in 1960 a vase and two pottery of Villeneuve, confirming its dating at the time of Clovis and the conquest of Soissons.

The engravings, drawn with a metal tool (no flint was found), cover an area of 1.40 m high by 2.60 m long. The warrior, 40 cm high, is represented with an erection sex, holding a francisque and a frame, symbols of warrior power. On the right, a svastika (Pagan symbol) contrasts with the crosses and the inscription IHS (Iesus Hominum Salvator), added in the 12th–13th centuries to Christianize the site. The rock, formed by a block of sandstone supporting another rock, creates a natural shelter 4 meters long, used as a place of worship or memory.

Ranked a historic monument in 1975, the site is a rare testimony of Merovingian rock art in Picardia. The weapons represented (francisque, frayed) and the svastika bind the rock to the period of the French conquests, while the medieval additions (cross, IHS) reflect its symbolic re-use. Excavations revealed no engraving tools, suggesting the use of metals, possibly linked to the local crafts of the time. Today, the site remains an object of study for archaeologists, illustrating the superposition of pagan and Christian beliefs in French Gaul.

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