Starting with the most distant of our ancestors. The Vézère Valley in the Dordogne is quite simply considered as the cradle of humanity, as homo erectus settled here 400,000 years ago! The painted caves, shelters and sites tell us the story of the daily life of prehistoric man.
What about the famous Gauls? In the 3rd century BC their tribes mixed with the peoples of Aquitaine. The Petrucores founded Périgueux, and the Bituriges Vivisques founded Bordeaux... Together they occupied South West France – from the Loire to the Rhone and the Mediterranean.
In 56 BC, Rome conquered the region. The Romans settled without too much conflict – indeed they brought with them the benefits of their civilisation. The roads were constructed, town plans traced, and rich villas built. The first vines were planted, too – "biturica" in Latin.
The fall of Rome (in 476 in Constantinople) and the start of the Middle Ages. Aquitaine suffered the Vandal and Visigoth invasions, the sieges of the armies of Clovis (6th century) to build a free kingdom, and then the battles to keep it in the face of more independence-minded peoples such as the Vascons (or Gascons) in the Pyrenees.