L'occupation protohistorique du territoire communal des Arcs-sur-Argens (Var)

Abstract

Prospectings and soundings bring a knew knowledge of protohistory in the Arcs-sur-Argens village district. During the Final Bronze II it was a small dwelling place on the slope of the Colobrère forest. From the Final Bronze II/IHA (C 14/ 1400- 1030 B.C.) until the first Iron Age (C14:1013-799 B.C.), dwellings were located in the Touar plain. During the Iron Age, dwellings were then constructed on the tops of the hills. For instance, the Castel-Diol oppidum with a 3,000 m2 in area dated back to the first half of the 5th century B.C. La Cabredor, a 1,600 m2 oppidum, with a rampart. Dwellings are grouped together in rows, each one being separated from the other by narrow spaces and from the wall by an open space. This oppidum is dated back to the end of the second century and the just half first century B.C. The Castelard, a 6,200 m2 oppidum with a double rampart and a 2,800 m2 central redoubt. In a second stage of occupation dated from the middle of the 2nd century B.C., dwellings lean on the wall. The hypothesis of an ancient path permitting an access to the permian depression of the Saint-Tropez gulf is evoqued, as well as the possible causes of the shift of population from the plain to the Maures massif.