However, it is impossible to precisely date the first lasting human establishment. Archaeological discoveries in the neighborhood of La Balance reveal that the site was inhabited 4000 years B.C., by the Chaseens, whose civilization extended from central Italy to Burgundy. Raising livestock and cultivating the land, they are the founders of the first permanent settlements and villages in the region. The crag was a natural refuge from the numerous and violent caprices of the Rhone. Towards the second millenium B.C., the Chalcalithic civilization settled here, along with the Campaniforme vase civilization.
Archaeological discoveries reveal here farmer-breeders of a warlike temperament, who hunted as well.
It is presently on view in the Calvet Museum. Since High Antiquity, the indigent people had contact with the Mediterranean civilizations. The Rhone constitutes a principal commercial route for the Greek and Phoenician sailors and Etruscan merchants. Following 500BC, the city extended considerably around the oppidum built on the cliff. During the 4th century, the Greek colony contracted commercial agreements with the Cavares cities of Avignon and Cavaillon.