Former uses

The rutted track was probably used in the Gallo-Roman era for the extensive trade between the high and low country, and may have been used for transporting ores (lead, silver, iron, etc.) that the Romans were mining in the Cévennes. There is evidence that it was used in the Middle Ages, a period when travel expanded: sheep transhumance (migration to and from summer pastures), pilgrimages, trade, etc. Caravans of mules brought wines, salt, preserved fish and olive oil from the Mediterranean lowland to the Gévaudan, returning with grains, wood, chestnuts and cadis (a thick wool material).