What is Soyons?
{{Infobox French commune |name=Soyons |arrondissement=Tournon-sur-Rhône |canton=Saint-Péray |INSEE=07316 |postal code=07130 |mayor=Régine Saint-Criq |term=2001-2008 |intercommunality= |coordinates = {{coord|44.89|4.85083333333|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |elevation m=107 |elevation min m=104 |elevation max m=280 |area km2=7.9 |population=1936 |population date=2005 }} '''Soyons''' is a [[communes of France|commune]] in the [[Ardèche]] ''[[departments of France|département]]'' in southern [[France]]. Humans have lived on this 30 [[hectare]] site for 150,000 years. This means it is the oldest inhabited (lived in) site in France, with remains from all the time periods. Because of Soyons location along the [[Rhône]], at the crossroads of routes, it played a major role in the history of France. == History == The [[Paleolithic]] caves of Greenhouse Guercy [http://www.soyons.fr/index.php/Le-musee/les-grottes-de-soyons.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815091807/http://www.soyons.fr/index.php/Le-musee/les-grottes-de-soyons.html |date=2009-08-15 }} provided safe and comfortable living for [[Neanderthal]] man. The caves were lived in by man, alternating with large meat eating animals ([[carnivore]]s) ([[lion]]s, [[hyena]]s and cave [[bear]]s). Two outdoor areas for the [[butcher]]ing of [[mammoth]]s, used by the [[Cro-Magnon]] Neanderthal people, have been discovered. Several [[Neolithic]] populations lived on the site. In particular, [[Chalcolithic]] people buried their dead in burial caves like Grotte des Enfants and Hole Roland, as well as under mounds, such as that of Greenhouse Aurouze. A Gallic [[oppidum]], a pre-[[Ancient Rome|Roman]] town protected with a fort, was a feature on the massive Malpas and along the Rhone, the site of the Brégoule [http://www.soyons.fr/index.php/Notre-histoire/le-site-de-la-bregoule.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017065035/http://www.soyons.fr/index.php/Notre-histoire/le-site-de-la-bregoule.html |date=2009-10-17 }}. This was th