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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The covered trail of Deserts, also known as the covered driveway of the Butte-Vachon, is a megalithic monument located in Argenteuil, in the Val-d的Oise. The site was discovered in the 19th century after stone removals by quarryers, and was reported in 1867 by Mr. Guédon, a foreman, after the discovery of human bones and flint objects. Excavations were then carried out by Louis Legay, president of the Paris Archaeology Society, revealing a partially collapsed collective grave.

Built semi-entered with mill and limestone walls, the gangway was originally about 13 meters long, oriented north-north-west/south-south-east. It was covered with five slabs of sandstone and surmounted by a dolmenic cairn, forming a tumulus called "the Vachon hill". Excavations revealed sitting burials, flint tools (including polished axes and arrow frames), bone and mother-of-pearl trimmings, and bones of animals such as wild boar or deer.

Ranked a historic monument in 1943, the driveway was originally owned by the state before being transferred to the municipality of Argenteuil in 2007. Protected by a gate in 1899, she only visited today on the occasion of Heritage Days. Part of the archaeological furniture, including human skulls and lithic objects dated from the final Neolithic, is preserved at the Musée des Antiquities nationales de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

The site illustrates the funeral practices of Seine-Oise-Marne culture, characteristic of the recent Neolithic in Île-de-France. The objects discovered, such as a jadeite axe from Mount Viso or shale pendants, testify to distant exchanges and sophisticated craftsmanship. The pottery and bone punches complete this picture of a society organised around collective rites and an agro-pastoral economy.

The location, on the hillside at 55 meters altitude, dominated the Seine at about 100 meters. Its name "Deserts" comes from its uncultivated state in the 19th century, contrasting with the surrounding cultivated plots. Today, although closed to the public outside of exceptional events, the site remains a major testimony of megalithism in the Paris region.

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