« Moving beyond the God Bego »

International audienceSince 1868 and their attribution to Prehistory by the scientific community, the some 35 000 rock engravings of the region of Mount Bego (Tende, Alpes-Maritimes, France) have been the subject of dozens of symbolic interpretations, most of which identify the site as a sanctuary dedicated to one or more deities of the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age. Our theoretical and critical approach proposes to identify and expose the main weaknesses of these interpretations, which are often based on inappropriate comparisons, hasty observations, sometimes detached from the chrono-cultural context of the engravings. Frequented very early, from the early Neolithic period, the region of Mount Bego is above all a high altitude environment, first of all linked to pastoralism and the practice of the summer pastures, as well as the exploitation of raw materials and hunting activities. From an anthropological perspective, and taking into account the diachrony in the realization of the different cycles of engraved motifs, we thus discuss the identities and the functions of the prehistoric engravers in order to renew the debate about the meaning of these rock images and their relations to the profane and sacred