Cave I of Castelvielh was occupied in the Neo-Chalcoliticum, in Late Bronze IIIa, at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, and then in the Middle Ages (XIIth till XIIIth c). It fits into the whole of the southern rock dwellings that are relatively numerous in the distria of Sainte-Anastasie. An rescue excavation carried out from 1984 to 1986 has yielded data that are more or less important according to the period concerned. After a study of the traces of the arrangements and an analytical presentation of the objeas (for the most part pottery), the authors fit the successive occupations into the cultural context of the area ; they discuss their purpose in the différents periods : permanent or temporary dwelling ?, specialisation of cattle breeding (for late Bronze IIIa) ?, place of worship (for the beginning of the Early Iron Age) ? A study of the faune of Late Bronze IIIa offers additional arguments for this era.

The excavation of the Pontel burial mound in 1996 and 1997 provides us with data relating to early Iron Age funerary practices in a region where most of the existing information is based on dated research. The sepulchral deposit of an adult on his back is on the natural soil, and is associated with burial goods (two incised vases, several shards and a piece of a bracelet, and dissarticulated bones from the hoofs of a calf and ribs from an Ovid were found in a pit). This pre-exists the built structures that could have been used in funerary rites. Teeth from other individuals ; an adult and a child of about 10-14 years of age, were scattered in two sets near the inhumation. Within the central area of the stones that form the burial mound several other elements were found, including an iron nail plus ovid and cattle bones, which could be indicative of another ceremonial phase.

Près d'un habitat rural gallo-romain furent découverts en 1982 les vestiges d'une sépulture à incinération, bouleversée par un labourage profond. L'étude du mobilier recueilli permet de dater cette tombe de la fin du Ier s. ou du début du IIème s. ap. J.-C.

The Arriasse valley has yielded the remains of two silo-pits for grain from the beginning of the Early Iron Age, anterior to the intervention of Greek and Etruscan trade in the region. The structures were filled in by detritus coming from the habitat settled nearby, of which no other traces remain. Their capacity appears to indicate the use by a family rather than a community. These dug-in silos are the oldest discovered in eastern Languedoc up till now. They confirm the idea that the use of this type of long-term storage of grain does not directly depend on a particular demand for cereals by the first Etruscan and Greek merchants.

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