At the heart of the Haute-Provence Geopark, the ammonite slab was named one of the 100 most beautiful international geological heritage sites in 2022. Covering 350 m², 1,550 fossilized ammonite shells, the largest measuring 70 cm in diameter, never cease to amaze.
This extraordinary site leaves visitors speechless. To understand the emergence of this seabed, we need to go back to the “Lias” (Lower Jurassic). At that time, our region was underwater, home to pentacrines (which gave rise to the famous Etoiles de Saint-Vincent), gryphées (cousins of oysters) and various other shellfish. Above them swim nautiluses, ammonites and belemnites, predated by marine reptiles (including the famous Robine and Melaie ichthyosaurs).
After the animals died, the shells were deposited, covered with sediment and fossilized. Much later, the formation of the Alps lifted this seabed and subjected it to erosion, giving us this extraordinary photograph, dated -198 million years ago. Digne-les-Bains’ Japanese twin town, Kamaïshi, has a life-size cast of the photograph.
