After the times when stone was polished comes the Bronze Age around 2000 BC. JC. A craft and agricultural society settles and develops exchanges with Armorican and Norman centers producing in particular axes. It is perhaps at this moment that a track follows the heights of the Corniche de Pail in Villepail, Mont du Saule, Côte des Cheminées (RN12). It goes straight just north of Mayenne and continues very far avoiding the reliefs of the forest of Mayenne towards Andouille. There, she rubs shoulders with the menhir,the Devil’s Faix at la Bigottière fords the Ernée and overlooks valleys as far as Brittany. A stone enclosure from the Bronze Age found at Argentré coming from Vaiges illustrates the persistence of routes reused through the ages.
After the 3rd c. JC, Celts coming from the east extract the abundant iron in Mayenne and manufacture tools favoring the agricultural and artisanal development. The very hollow paths attest to long and frequent passages, such as that of La Pellerine, on a common north-south axis. Around 100 BC. JC, places of markets, are established on heights dominating the Mayenne, near fords of Armorican transverse ways (Saulges, Entrammes, or to connect two parallel paths north-south dominating the Mayenne _(to the east (Villiers-Charlemagne, Daon, Montflours, St-Jean, Louverné).Moulay, rich devilish capital, the most important agglomeration in the west, is linked to Angers by a long road. Gold is mined in St-Fort (Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne,_ in the Craonnais) on a long exploited seam, traces of which are found in blocks of quartz with low mineral content in hedgerows.
We still have 2000 years of history to brush up quickly. See you next week