Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Camp de Laure is a major archaeological site in Provence, classified as a historical monument in 1977. Located in the commune of Rove, it is the oldest fortified habitat in the region, with a stone rampart dating back to the second millennium BC (c. 1650 BC). Stunned from the beginning of the 20th century, then systematically between 1971 and 1975 by Jean Courtin, the site revealed exceptional defensive structures, including a double wall with hemispheric towers and a passage suitable for carts, a rarity for the time when the standard width corresponded to that of an ox. Dominating the plain and pond of Berre from a height of 147 meters, it bears witness to a short but intense occupation during the ancient bronze, without the reasons for its abandonment being elucidated.

The excavations revealed significant material remains: weapons, campaniform ceramics (not mentioned by Courtin), and wildlife remains indicating a pastoral economy rather than cynegetic. Accurate dating at 3600 years before the present (1650 B.C.) was established through charcoal. The site, of a barred spur type, succeeds more recent oppida of the massif (Teste Nègre, La Cloche) and precedes local occupations dating back to the 3rd or 4th millennium (Couronnenian). Its uniqueness lies in its sophisticated defensive system for the Bronze Age, contrasting with the mesolithic sites of the plain like Châteauneuf-les-Martigues.

First ranked in 1977, Camp Laure saw its perimeter of protection extended in 1997, covering the soil and remains of the habitat (cadastre C1 4019). A public property, it illustrates the evolution of fortification techniques in the western Mediterranean and offers insight into the protohistoric societies of Provence. Its rampart, combined with terraced natural cliffs, makes it a rare example of defensive architecture adapted to the relief, marking a key step between neolithic habitats and iron age oppida.

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