High-resolution pollen analyses undertaken on two cores from southern France allow us to separate anthropogenic effects from climatic impacts on environments over the last 4500 years. A long-term aridification trend is highlighted during the late Holocene, and three superimposed arid events are recorded around 4400, 2600 and 1200cal BP coinciding in time with Bond events. Human influence on vegetation is attested since the Bronze Age and became dominant at the beginning of the High Middle Ages.