Southern France: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides)

The mountainous regions of southern France, historian Fernand Braudel observed, were settled earlier and more heavily than most other regions in the Mediterranean. The coastal town of Lattes, writes British archaeologist Cleere by way of example, has been settled since the early Neolithic, or nearly six millennia, its inhabitants then as now drawn by its handsome lagoons and fertile fields.

Cleere describes 104 sites in the region, from the Gironde to the Maritime Alps, keying directions to the Michelin 1:200,000 series of maps. A few of those sites will be well known to travelers with an interest in ancient history: the Maison Carrée and the fine Roman arena at Nimes, for instance, or the great amphitheater at Arles. Other sites are less well known but of great historical significance, such as the stone hill forts on the Plateau de Jastres where the Arveni chieftain Vercingetorix suffered defeat at the hands of Julius Caesar, and the great limestone caverns at Le Mas d'Azil, where magnificent examples of late Magdalenian period cave art have been found. The book is illustrated with high-quality photographs, maps, architectural plans, and line drawings, and accompanied by sidebars explaining points of historical and cultural interest. This includes, for example, notes on the eerie Celtic "severed head cult" and the development of the Aretine pottery industry in southern France.

The book makes a splendid companion for travelers seeking a window into the ancient past, one that will take them away from the crowds and into little-explored country. --Gregory McNamee