Abstract
The site of Arnoux was the subject of a preventive excavation on the course of the highway A750 in the mid-valley of the Hérault. The only revealed structures consist in bottoms of silos. There are six of them, spreading over an area of 2500 m2. The volume and the variety of the archaeological material show residues of a small rural group settlement. The quantity of pottery is important. The rarity of extra-regional tableware ceramics and the large amount of storage pottery are notable. The topography of the site and the location of the silos suggest a centralised settlement of one or several residential units. The distribution of the archaeological material does not allow to confirm this hypothesis. The activity stems from the 3th century BC., possibly the middle of the century, when rural sites were rare in this region. In the mid-valley of the Hérault, the desertion of the oppidum of La Ramasse could have favoured the setup of this type of settlement.