Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers
In prehistoric times, the presence of salt springs probably attracted herds of wild herbivores (such as bison, reindeer and horses), who came to the Seille valley to feed on the salt. These regular stopovers by large herds may have prompted Palaeolithic hunters to set up their seasonal camps there.
The first traces of human occupation of the upper Seille valley date back to the Middle Palaeolithic (around 100,000 to 50,000 years ago) and can be attributed to Neanderthal populations. Remains of quartzite lithic tools have been discovered on the hillsides surrounding the Seille valley, like at Vic-sur-Seille (Moselle).
At Morville-les-Vic (Moselle), an occupation attributable to the Upper Palaeolithic is probably linked to reindeer-hunting camps from the Magdalenian period (15,000 to 8,000 BC). The heads of flint throwing weapons also suggest that the last remaining populations of prehistoric hunter-gatherers were present around the valley in the 8th and 7th millennia BC.
The first farmers of the Neolithic (5th–3rd millennia BC)
In the east of France, sedentary settlements multiplied in the second half of the 5th millennium BC. These were villages of farmers and herdsmen growing crops using a slash-and-burn system in an environment that was becoming less and less forested.
In the Seille valley, it seems highly probable that salt extraction began the second half of the 3rd millennium BC, where there are a particularly large number of Late Neolithic settlement sites. Some of these can cover dozens of hectares, as in Salonnes or Morville-les-Vic.
These large settlements are associated with burials of exceptional status. A grave discovered in Salonnes ("Les Cachettes") contained the skeleton of a warrior accompanied by two flint daggers and a quiver containing almost thirty flint arrows. This discovery is reminiscent of the equipment used by the famous Ötsi, discovered mummified on the Italian-Austrian border.
The first agricultural developments of the Early Bronze Age (18th–16thcenturies BC)
A peat bog discovered in Salonnes ("Sous les Vignes") provided evidence of the first major environmental deforestation in the Seille valley. The landscape appears to have been largely deforested between the 18thand the 16th centuries BC. From this point onwards, its general appearance would remain largely the same until modern times. The cultivation of cereals is well documented. The general image we have of the vegetation is that of a patchwork of meadows, fallow ground filled with hazel, secondary woodland dominated by ash, or mixed woodland dominated by beech and oak.
We still don't know about the settlements and necropolises associated with this first major period of land clearance and agricultural exploitation of the natural environment.
The warrior societies of the Final Bronze Age (11th–10th centuries BC)
All our knowledge of the Bronze Age period comes from isolated finds of bronze ornaments and tools. They do, however, indicate significant occupation of the area around the valley. A study of pollens from the Salonnes peat bog reveals that major deforestation took place around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, in a natural environment that was already largely cultivated.
It is likely that salt was mined here, although there are no easily detectable direct evidence of this.
The most numerous archaeological remains date from between the 11th and 10th centuries BC and reveal the existence of an influx of wealth, sacrificed as ritual deposits. A rich cremation grave discovered at Morville-les-Vic ("Les Grandes Raies") indicates that privileged populations settled in the immediate vicinity of the valley.
