Editing Provence (section)

=== Ligures and Celts in Provence ===
Between the 10th and 4th century BC, the [[Ligures]] were found in Provence from [[Marseille|Massilia]] as far as modern [[Liguria]]. They were of uncertain origin; they may have been the descendants of the indigenous Neolithic peoples.<ref name="J.R. Palanque, Pg. 33">[[Jean-Rémy Palanque|J.R. Palanque]], ''Ligures, Celts et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence''. Pg. 33.</ref> According to [[Strabo]], the Ligurians, living in proximity to numerous Celtic mountain tribes, were a different people ({{lang|grc|ἑτεροεθνεῖς}}), but "were similar to the Celts in their modes of life".<ref>Strabo, Geography, book 2, chapter 5, section 28</ref> They did not have their own alphabet, but their language remains in place names in Provence ending in the suffixes -''asc'', -''osc'', -''inc'', -''ates'', and -''auni''.<ref name="J.R. Palanque, Pg. 33"/> The ancient geographer [[Posidonius]] wrote of them: "Their country is savage and dry. The soil is so rocky that you cannot plant anything without striking stones. The men compensate for the lack of wheat by hunting... They climb the mountains like goats."<ref>J. Cited by R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celts et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence''. Pg. 34.</ref> They were also warlike; they invaded Italy and went as far as Rome in the 4th century BC, and they later aided the passage of [[Hannibal]], on his way to attack Rome (218 BC). Traces of the Ligures remain today in the [[dolmens]] and other megaliths found in eastern Provence, in the primitive stone shelters called 'Bories' found in the [[Luberon]] and [[Comtat]], and in the rock carvings in the [[Vallée des Merveilles|Valley of Marvels]] near [[Mont Bégo]] in the Alpes-Maritimes, at an altitude of 2,000 meters.<ref name="R. Palanque, Pg. 34">J. R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celts et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence''. Pg. 34.</ref>

Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, tribes of Celtic peoples, probably coming from Central Europe, also began moving into Provence. They had weapons made of iron, which allowed them to easily defeat the local tribes, who were still armed with bronze weapons. One tribe, called the [[Segobriga]], settled near modern-day Marseille. The Caturiges, Tricastins, and Cavares settled to the west of the [[Durance]] river.<ref>J. R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celts et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence''. Pg. 34</ref>

[[Celts]] and Ligurians spread throughout the area and the Celto-Ligures eventually shared the territory of Provence, each tribe in its own alpine valley or settlement along a river, each with its own king and dynasty. They built hilltop forts and settlements, later given the Latin name {{lang|la|[[oppidum]]}}. Today the traces of 165 {{lang|la|oppida}} are found in the Var, and as many as 285 in the Alpes-Maritimes.<ref name="R. Palanque, Pg. 34"/> They worshipped various aspects of nature, establishing sacred woods at Sainte-Baume and Gemenos, and healing springs at Glanum and Vernègues. Later, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the different tribes formed confederations; the Voconces in the area from the [[Isère]] to the [[Vaucluse]]; the Cavares in the Comtat; and the Salyens, from the [[Rhône]] river to the Var. The tribes began to trade their local products, iron, silver, alabaster, marble, gold, resin, wax, honey and cheese; with their neighbours, first by trading routes along the Rhône river, and later [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] traders visited the coast. Etruscan [[amphorae]] from the 7th and 6th centuries BC have been found in Marseille, Cassis, and in hilltop ''oppida'' in the region.<ref name="R. Palanque, Pg. 34"/>