On the hillside, between twisted pines and dry stones, the Sainte-Victoire mountain hides one of the richest paleontological site in Europe. Keeping from looks and protected by the silence of the garrigues, this discreet valley keeps in its bowels the remains of a distant past where the dinosaurs, in search of a fertile land, came to deposit their eggs. On less than a hectare, hundreds of fossilized shells tell a forgotten story, that of a real dinosaurs' poueponnière frozen in the ground for seventy-five years.
These fossils date from around 75 million years, at the end of the Cretaceous. At that time, the south of France was more like a swampy savannah than the current Mediterranean maquis. Palm trees, conifers and flower plants dominated a landscape crossed by large flood plains. This type of environment offered ideal conditions for the nesting of dinosaurs, thanks to furniture soils and rich in silts.
A dinosaurs' nursery revealed by erosion
The eggs discovered measure for some up to 30 centimeters in diameter. Their spherical shape suggests that they belonged to large herbivores, probably rhabdodon or titanosaurs, which then populated this island region. The paleontologist Thierry Tortosa, reserve curator, specifies that the researchers estimate on average an egg per square meter. This suggests that thousands, even millions of eggs, could still rest in the basement.
But here, the excavations do not resemble those of the major archaeological sites. To preserve the landscape, scientists only unearthed eggs already partially uncovered by natural erosion. Each year, a discreet twenty -day campaign allows you to probe new plots, out of sight. As the press reports, the site remains voluntarily secret to avoid the return of plunderers, already responsible for many flights in the 80s and 90s.
To date, no embryo has yet been found in the fossilized eggs of Sainte-Victoire. The absence of content makes their accurate attribution delicate. Le Figaro recalls that on the global scale, very few fertilized specimens have been uncovered, such as “Baby Yingliang”, an exceptionally preserved Chinese oviraptorosaurosaurus, at least 66 million years old.
An exceptional site under close surveillance
This fossil sanctuary is not content to be a scientific site. It also crystallizes stakes of conservation, pedagogy and heritage valuation. In 1994, the French authorities classified the geological nature reserve area, the highest level of existing protection. Despite this, looting persists. A fire in 1989 had in particular exposed several fossils, attracting collectors from around the world.
To better protect this wealth, local authorities are now planning to develop controlled paleontological tourism. Thierry Tortosa regrets that France does not know how to value its sites enough. According to him, other countries build museums around a simple fragment of bone, when the Holy Victoire is full of still unexploited diversity.
The site was nicknamed “Eggs-en-Provence” by the researchers themselves, in the blink of an eye to its proximity to Aix and the exceptional concentration of fossil eggs. According to 20 minutes, this appellation reflects both the humor of scientists and the singularity of the place. For Séverine Berton, excavation technician, each egg discovered awakens an intact wonder. “We will never have finished during our lifetime, because each time we come, we know we will find it”.
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