The port of lattara, a place for exchange
The very nature of the port of Lattara made it a crossroads where various communities could meet, trade and discuss – in short, a place where they could share. From the very beginning, the town's population included Etruscans among the indigenous residents. It is probable that the inhabitants also mixed with Massalian traders, Greeks, possibly Iberians, Phoenicians – in fact, every type of trader and sailor who made their way around the Mediterranean. It is also possible that itinerant craftspeople from the north of Gaul visited the town. In addition, Italians moved freely throughout Provence, and some of them certainly stopped over in Lattes.
Impacts on pottery production and building techniques
Without written texts, it is difficult to get an exact idea of the many consequences produced by contact between the residents of Lattara and Mediterranean traders. One thing is certain: these influences were early, long-lasting and diverse. As in other indigenous communities in southern France, these contacts affected construction techniques, particularly with respect to the use of regular planning for settlements and the systematic use of quadrangular floor plans for houses.
Another influence was felt in manufacturing techniques for ceramics – we know that some indigenous potters began to use the potter's wheel in the 6th century BCE. The use of imported tableware, from Greece in particular, may have influenced table manners, although we have no way of knowing whether food preparation techniques really changed. Oil lamps, which arrived along with the tableware, represented a new source of lighting in the region, and were rapidly adopted by the town's residents.In the area of agriculture, the cultivation of both grapes and olives came from outside.
Repeated contact with other Mediterranean groups resulted in the development of the use of money starting in the 2nd century BCE. Finallly, during the same period, indigenous groups used Greek writing to scratch their names on ceramics, well before they adopted Latin for speaking and writing.
