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Origin and history

The Justice-covered walkway, located at Epona in the Yvelines, is a megalithic monument erected during the recent Neolithic period. Its name comes from the so-called "Champtier de la Justice", attested since the twelfth century. The site, located one kilometer south of the Seine in a floodplain, was partially destroyed in 1793 by inhabitants seeking a supposed treasure. The excavations carried out in 1881 by Perrier du Carne and Manouvrier revealed a funeral chamber of 11.70 m long, bounded by orthostates in sandstone and limestone, initially covered with a tumulus. Three roof tables remain today, one consolidated by a concrete pillar during subsequent restoration.

The excavations of 1881 revealed two layers of burial separated by limestone pads, sheltering about sixty remains in a bent position. Among the remains, three skulls had traces of trepanation or mutilation, while one home was identified under the pavement, with no apparent connection to the burials. Funeral furniture included flint tools (polished axes, Grand-Pressigny blades, arrow tips), ornament elements (amulet, fossil sea urchin) and coarse pottery, illustrating the ritual and craft practices of recent Neolithic.

Ranked a historic monument in 1889, the covered alley was again explored without success in 1953-1954 by archaeologist Eugène Eble, before being restored and filled. The destructions of 1793 erased any trace of an antechamber or original entrance architecture. The materials used (stone, limestone, mill, puddingue) all come from local outcrops, located within a radius of 3 to 4 km. The site, owned by the commune, remains a major testimony of the neolithic communities of the Paris region, linked to the alluvial plain of the Seine.

Armand Cassan, a visitor to the site in 1833, played a key role in deterring the owner of the time from completely destroying the monument. His observations, together with those of the Countess of Maule, confirmed the initial presence of a protective tumulus, now extinct. The repeated floods of the Seine have altered the archaeological layers, complicating the interpretation of the remains, but the discoveries (bones, tools, trimmings) offer valuable insight into the funeral rites and social organization of the local populations between 3000 and 2500 BC.

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