When it withdrew from the Provence region several million years ago, the sea left behind a sedimentary element, ocher, used as a coloring since Antiquity. Large quarries employing up to a thousand people were exploited from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century, sculpting a landscape of red cliffs shaped both by nature and human activity. Today, only the Gargas quarry in the Vaucluse department still employs half a dozen workers.