Moho engraved rock à Saint-Martin

Timeline

Heritage classified

Origin and history

The engraved rock of Moho is an Amerindian petroglyph located in the Moho ravine, near the Quartier d'Orléans in Saint-Martin, in the French Antilles. This elongated diorite block (2.5 m x 1 m x 0.5 m) is covered with circular cupulas of various sizes, forming abstract motifs and schematic faces (eyes and mouth). These engravings, probably made with stone tools, include three large cups at the top, perhaps used as polishers to make axes. The site, listed in the 1980s, is one of four known petroglyphs on the island.

Stylized faces represent about 40% of the engraved motifs of the Lesser Antilles, reflecting a pre-Columbian artistic tradition widespread in the Caribbean. In 2008, an archaeological study was conducted to protect these engraved rocks, resulting in their inscription to historical monuments in 2011, and their classification on 6 November 2012. A well dated 1922, still in use today, is in the vicinity, while pre-Columbian and colonial ceramic coats were found on the site.

A second block of tuffite, located five metres upstream, carries a cavity similar to the three large cupules of the main rock. Axe blades have also been discovered in the ravine bed, reinforcing the hypothesis of artisanal use of the site. The rock and its plated terrain are now protected, emphasizing their heritage importance for the Amerindian history of the West Indies.

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