Prehistory
Of all regions of
France, Aquitaine is by far the most important in terms of prehistory.
This is most true of the Périgord, an area with an almost unique cluster of major
prehistoric sites.
Around 400,000
BC, the first hunters arrived in the Vezere valley where they lived in rock-shelters in
the limestone cliffs and where they made flint tools and weapons.
Trace of their activities
have been discovered at over 150 sites and in some 50 decorated caves and thanks to Le
Moustier, we have an insight into the life and religious rituals of prehistoric hunters
from around 80,000-30,000 BC.
Lascaux, cave painting
At the Cro-Magnon site in Les Eysies, artefacts from 35,000-10,000 BC have revealed the amazingly high level of skill attained by early man and a similar sense of wonder comes from looking at the caves paintings, depicting mammoths, horses,and reindeer at Lascaux and the so-called Venus figures, found at Laussel in the Dordogne and at Grassempouy in the Landes.
During the
Neolithic period,the popilation grew. People began to settle in villages and grow crops
and domestic animals. Their craft skills developed. They wowe woollen cloth, worked with
wood and leather and made metal tools and weapons, first from copper, then later from
bronze.
In Medoc, around 1,500
BC, large bronze axes were being produced.