First
human presence
Rhinoceros Hunting on the Limestone
Plateaux
The
first signs of human presence in Aveyron date back to more than 12,000
years ago. The Mesolithic civilisation of hunters and gatherers covers
more than 6,000 years during which the whole economy was gradually
changed from entirely hunting to hunting and agriculture.
These
early settlers had a pre-disposition to these plateaux. This was undoubtedly
due to their attitude and long term vision.
They
would have laughed at their modern counter part. Present day hunters
are happy to hunt the wild boar but they preferred to hunt larger mammals
such as the bear which supplied warm fur for the winter, the horse with
it’s succulent meat, the stag and of course the rhinoceros.
History does not reveal whether, like the Chinese today, they processed
the horn from the rhinoceros into an aphrodisiac powder.
Spearheads have been found near Hospitalet-de-Larzac and can be seen
in the Roquefort Museum.
T
They
would have laughed at their modern counter part. Present day hunters
are happy to hunt the wild boar but they preferred to hunt larger mammals
such as the bear which supplied warm fur for the winter, the horse with
it’s succulent meat, the stag and of course the rhinoceros.