Petroglyphs

Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The petroglyphs of Sainte-Luce, located on the site of the engraved Rocks of Montravail, constitute one of the three sets of Indian rock art known in Martinique, alongside the sites of Galion (La Trinité) and Châteauboeuf (Fort-de-France). This site, which has been listed as a historical monument since 1996, is distinguished by five dandesite blocks decorated with stylized faces, made by picketing and boucharding. The main block, measuring 1.64 m high, has 14 faces whose features (eyes, nose, mouth) are articulated with the natural cracks of the rock. Cuplets have also been identified on the periphery of the sector.

The site was first reported in 1970 by Jean Crusol, native economist of Sainte-Luce, who alerted Mario Mattioni, then director of the Museum of Archaeology of Martinique. He made the first surveys and presented his findings in 1971 at a congress on the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Lesser Antilles. Several archaeologists, including Henry Petitjean-Roget and Cornelis Nicolaas Dubelaar, then studied the site. In 2007, INRAP made a diagnosis, followed in 2015 by a sampling operation that delivered some ceramic teasses dated the middle to recent cedrosan-saladoid.

Acquired by the General Council in 2009 after belonging to the Chou family, the site is located 3.5 km from the south coast of Martinique, at 200 m above sea level. The petroglyphs, dated from the third century, are among the oldest testimonies of pre-Columbian agricultural groups that colonized the island from the first century. Their layout and style suggest a symbolic or ritual meaning, although their exact interpretation remains uncertain. The land, cadastralized under plots D 882 and D 883, is now destined for a cultural tourism project.

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