Origin and history
The hypogees of Fontvieille, formerly called hypogees of Arles-Fontvieille, date from the Chalcolithic (second half of the fourth millennium BC) and were used until the third millennium. Located in the commune of Fontvieille (Bouches-du-Rhône), these monuments are not artificial caves or classic dolmens, but trenches covered with megalithic slabs, organized in three parts: a descending corridor, an antechamber and a rectangular funeral chamber. Their architectural homogeneity suggests a contemporary construction, reflecting advanced technical know-how for the time. Four main hypogees — Bounias, the Source, Castelet (or Arnaud-Castelet) and Cordes (known as "Grotte des Fées") — are distributed around the Cordes mountain, associated with the Dolmen de Coutignargues.
The hypogee of Cordes, the most monumental (42 m long), is distinguished by a staircase of 10.50 m leading to a symmetrical vestibule and a 25 m terminal gallery, covered with thick slabs up to 1.30 m. Its oversized character and dominant position led Jean Guilaine to see it as a possible ceremonial sanctuary rather than a simple collective tomb. Close by, a 7 m broken slab, perhaps an indicator menhir, reinforces its mystery. The other three hypogees, more modest, were discovered in the 19th century: Bounias and the Source in 1866 by an assistant mayor, delivering bones and artifacts (points of arrows, pearls, ceramics), while the Castelet, searched in 1876, revealed exceptional furniture (584 pearls, frame of arrows, armband of archer).
These hypogees combine folklore and history: the hypogee of Cordes, associated with legends (feathers, Roland de Roncevaux, Moorish treasure), was mentioned in 1779 by Louis Mathieu Anibert. Classified Historical Monuments (as early as 1889 for some), they bear witness to the funeral and symbolic practices of Mediterranean protohistoric societies. Only the hypogee of Castelet, a communal property, is accessible to the public; the others, on private land, remain preserved. Their study, notably by Jean Guilaine or Fernand Benoit, enabled them to connect to the covered aisles and shed light on their role in the regional megalithic landscape.
The hypogee of the Source, the smallest (16.60 m), has ritual engravings (cupules, curvilinear motifs) on a slab, while its tumulus of 38 m in diameter was girded with a peristalith now extinct. The excavations exhumed copper, steatite and bone objects, confirming their funeral use. The hypogee of Castelet, with its ramp in "half-pirogue", delivered unique remains, like an arrow pierced vertebra, illustrating violent or ritual practices. These monuments, although looted in undetermined times, offer valuable insight into the beliefs and social organization of the Provençal Chalcolithic.
Their geographical context — the Cordes mountain, close to the Alpilles — and their proximity to Arles (then major place of Neolithic commerce) suggest a network of exchanges and a complex social hierarchy. The hypogees, by their mixed architecture and furniture, are linked to a wider Mediterranean tradition, as Franck Chevalier points out. Their preservation, despite the unsightly old excavations, makes them irreplaceable witnesses of the transition between Neolithic and Bronze Age in Provence.
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