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Prehistory
The first signs of local populations date from the Palaeolithic (400,000 B.C.), near Meyrueis and the Aigoual and Lingas massifs. After the Neolithic, and with nomadism ending, sedentary agricultural civilisations began (around 4,500 B.C.). As of 2,500 B.C., hundreds of menhirs and dolmens were erected, scattering the ridges and slopes of the Grands Causses and Mont Lozère.
From the Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic
Traces from this period are rare and consist exclusively of stone tools (from Meyrueis, Fraissinet-de-Fourques, Col de l’Homme mort, etc.). In the middle of the fourth millennium, the arrival of new populations and the adoption of new types of activity brought profound change. Scattered groups began to practise animal husbandry and farming on the Causse. Others settled in natural shelters and profited from their subterranean surroundings (food storage, provision of water, clay for pottery, etc.)
The end of nomadism
In the Upper Neolithic, around 2,500 B.C., funeral practices evolved from the individual grave to collective burial places in caves or dolmen. There are numerous dolmen on the Causses and in the Cévennes, but many of them fell victim to looting long ago.
Menhirs can be found throughout the territory. The site at Les Bondons, however, with its 157 granite megaliths (standing stones), is exceptional. Several sets have been strengthened and put upright again. The phenomenon of megalithism lasted almost 1,000 years and affected a much larger area, covering part of Aveyron, Lozère, Gard and Ardèche.
Bronze Age and Iron Age
Between 1800 and 1300 B.C. (the Early and Middle Bronze Age), the human presence in the area declined, then increased again in the Late Bronze Age, when several open settlements developed in both Florac and Ispagnac. But research into this period is still needed.
The same is true of the Iron Age, especially where settlements are concerned. The only exception is the Salt site in Moissac-Vallée-Française. And yet several sites have been located which have complete enclosures (Drigas, district of Hures-La-Parade) or are cap barré hill forts, built on a spur with steep slopes on three sides and man-made ramparts on the level approaches.
In the Cévennes, the lack of research into settlements is in sharp contrast with the degree of work undertaken on burial places. Tumuli can be found both in the Cévennes and on the limestone plateaux.