The archaeologist Dominique Carru, accepted the radiocarbon date for the sample of wood. However, he argued in 1999 that it is very unlikely that an earlier bridge existed. It is not mentioned in the surviving texts from the high medieval period . Also, a bridge would have led to the development of a town on the right bank of the Rhône opposite Avignon, similar to those at other locations in the Rhône valley, such as Trinquetaille opposite Arles and Saint-Romain-en-Gal near Vienne. There is no evidence for an important early settlement near the terminus of the bridge. The main east-west route in the Roman period passed through Tarascon-Beaucaire, to the south. It avoided the river at Avignon which was wide and variable in position.