Major studies of little-known ‘megalithic’ tomb types are rather rare these days, so it was with considerable interest that I read this substantial volume. The Arles-Fontvieille group of semi-subterranean hypogea-megalithic tombs forms a particular and unusual type. Long ago, Glyn Daniel mentioned them in his lectures on megaliths during my undergraduate degree and I have wondered about them since, and their relationship to other hypogea. This informative study transforms my insubstantial knowledge on these curious and important burial monuments. The work presents meticulous research that results in a satisfying and coherent study—a model of how to combine the latest methods with first-class conventional fieldwork and archival research.
The book is attractive, with excellent illustrations, reconstructions, plans, maps, antiquarian engravings, fine photographs and drawings of artefacts; it also has a particularly useful addition in the form of a DVD presenting on-site fieldwork, study and discussions, produced by Marc Azéma. Jean Guilaine, the doyen of French and Mediterranean megalithic research, also includes several other collaborators in the survey and discussion (Jean-Claude Golvin, Xavier Margarit and Gérard Sauzade).
The sites of the Arles-Fontvieille group are spread over barely more than 1km2 and comprise the Grottes (hypogea) des Fées (Epée de Roland), Bounais, de la Source, du Castelet (Arnaud) and the Dolmen de Courtignargues around the edges of low plateaux. Noted by antiquarians, they have been known for a considerable time, and the volume nicely includes these early records and the broader context of hypogea-building in the Mediterranean. The work of the many scholars long past, recent and present, who have made the subject what it has become, is reviewed, and this discussion is a particularly good addition. Too often we forget that most archaeology is a construct of ideas by those who identified and interpreted sites in the distant past.
The second chapter reviews the individual monuments, each amply described, contextualised and illustrated with fine photographs and plans. These show just how unusual and immense some of these sites are, with vast corridors (some over 12m long) cut into the rock. Some were surrounded by external structures such as Bounais, which was once covered by a huge tumulus over 30m in diameter. Others were accessed by allèe couverte, block-covered entrance passages, as represented by the Hypogée de la Source and the Grotte du Castelet. Collectively, these sites present a fascinating fusion of southern Mediterranean rock-cut tomb traditions with their dromos (passage) and entry steps, and the north-west European megalithic passage tomb forms. Links are drawn with tomb-building traditions of Sardinia, Malta, Sicily and beyond. The artefacts extracted from the Arles sites over the decades are analysed and illustrated, and their style and chronology integrated into the discussion. The pottery ranges from Final Neolithic to Beaker in style, while personal ornaments and grave goods include stone beads, lithics and gold and other metalwork, demonstrating the high status of the original burials at these impressive sites.
The third and fourth chapters explore the context and eastern origins of Mediterranean hypogea- construction traditions. Discussion of examples from Israel, Cyprus, Greece, southern Italy, Sicily, Malta, the Balearics and Iberia is supported by excellent photographs, plans and detailed arguments. The examples from Sicily, which extended through the Bronze Age, demonstrate the longevity of the tradition, while the Sardinian hypogea-megaliths show a fusion of traditions with complexes of subterranean spaces and symbolic sculptures. The Catalan proto-hypogea of one-cell multiple burials (Plaça de Gardunya, near Barcelona) yield yet another tradition, while the long passage rock-cut structures of Andalucia, the Balearics and Portugal show affinities to southern France. Although precise dating is still an issue for many sites, cleared as they were long ago, most seem to date from the later Neolithic to the early Bronze Age, contemporary with the Arles-Fontvieille group. Overall, it seems that the northern Sardinian tombs from Macomer, Alghero and the Majorcan examples are closest in style, but there are many contenders, from northern France to south-east Spain. Guilaine argues that it is the enveloping tumulus that represents a distinctive element, with comparisons from the Aude and Hérault regions. The extended lives of these sites are demonstrated by distributions of artefacts within the Hypogée du Castelet, while the repetitive burial practices (and multiple burials) also suggest long-lived traditions. Although the human remains from the Arles group are not extensive, these nevertheless give scope for some interpretation of prehistoric social organisation, hierarchy and funerary ritual.
The fifth chapter reviews the reconstruction of the Grotte des Fées and much of this is expanded upon on the DVD, which shows digital scanning at work, artefacts, reconstructions for museum and academic purposes and much more. Chapter 6 focuses on the birth (in the later Chasséen Neolithic c. 3600 BC), life and death of the Arles-Fontvieille tombs, and it reviews the theories proposed by earlier scholars about the nature and origin of the group, from early in the twentieth century, through Glyn Daniel, to the present. From these, there are many possible interpretations, raising the question of why such large, complex and clearly labour-intensive tombs developed. The discussion explores which processes over the course of millennia resulted in different practices, grave goods and the embellishments of the sites. The impact of new (digital and scientific) technologies is evident in enabling a better understanding of the period, and this is effectively argued and further displayed on the DVD. This charming finale to the project is something all field researchers should employ—a film presents the characters, the on-site discussions, the site surveys and recording issues, the scrambling in and out of deep shafts, and the absolute importance of the people who do the work and think through the ideas that are so well put to the printed page. This volume is a model of how such studies should be done; Glyn Daniel would have applauded it as much as I do.
