LATTARA, PHENECIA IN GAUL

Lattara is an ancient port city mentioned several times by Latin authors. Discovered in 1963, it corresponds to the modern town of Lattes, located in the department of Hérault in Languedoc-Roussillon. The site hosts the Lattes archaeological museum.

The Gallic origin of the name of Latera, like that of Arles Arelate, comes from the terms are, "in front of" or "near" and from latis, "marsh" or "river", the toponym thus meaning the city "of river and marsh.

The oldest traces date from the Neolithic. A hiatus appears to exist between approximately 3000 and 800 BC. After this date, a modest occupation is attested in the Late Bronze Age and at the beginning of the Iron Age.

The founding of the city took place during the last third of the 6th century BC. AD Both an enclosure and stone and brick houses were then built. The original objects and graffiti in the Etruscan language, the only ones known in France, suggested the hypothesis that brokers from Etruria played a role in the creation and rapid urbanization of the city.

The ancient Lattes had a particular type of port adapted to the lagoon environment. The pontoons on stilts found in the port could have been adapted to these transshipments.

Dettagli