Throughout the first millenium BCE, the societies living in southern France underwent a number of changes. Ways of life that had remained unchanged from prehistoric times would gradually shift as contact with other Mediterranean civilizations grew.
The founding of Massalia (Marseille) in 600 BCE by Phoceaen Greeks was a turning point in southern protohistory, as it encouraged a growing openness towards the Mediterranean by the indigenous communities in the south of France.
These native groups would become more structured, in particular when they built oppida – grouped settlements constructed on high points that would remain occupied until the Roman era. The protohistoric town of Lattara was part of this network of settlements that covered the entire southern part of France.
A wattery landscape