Dordogne France

[Barbirollians]

I must know the stretch of the Dronne from Brantôme through Bourdeilles and Ribérac to Aubeterre like the back of my hand. Sadly in the 80’s river levels started falling and the River is nothing like as pristine as it was. I was talking to a hotel owner back in 1992 and he was complaining back then about how deep local farmers were boring to get water for crop irrigation . During this summer’s Tour they cycled through Brantôme and the aerials revealed a fairly polluted , eutrophic river to my eyes. The Dordogne is a much bigger river and hopefully with higher water volumes is in a better state.

I hope that steps have been taken to protect the Dronne but it was looking fine in Brantôme last summer - lots of fish could be seen under the bridge. Kids splashing about in it at Aubeterre too at the beach by the campsite too

[french frank]

The museum at Les Eyzies was still calling them Cro Magnon last time I went there but that was in the 2000s

Yes, I think the scientific name is now preferred (by anthropologists) as the name Cro-Magnon designates a geographical location, so Early Modern Human indicates more closely where it fits in terms of human/humanoid evolution; aka Anatomically Modern Human - post Neanderthal!

[richardfinegold]

Yes, I wasn't in any way suggesting that it shouldn't be used,merely that in context it wasn't clear which specific sites you had in mind to visit. I assume Les Eyzies where the subsequently named 'Cro-Magnon' man was first uncovered?

No, I was using Cro Magnon as a general identifier for all the pre history cave art

[richardfinegold]

Yes, I think the scientific name is now preferred (by anthropologists) as the name Cro-Magnon designates a geographical location, so Early Modern Human indicates more closely where it fits in terms of human/humanoid evolution; aka Anatomically Modern Human - post Neanderthal!

My first year in College-gawd- almost 50 years ago-I wrote a term paper on Anatomical differences between Australopithicene Africans, Homo Erectus, and other prehistoric humans. No doubt modern genetics has put a lot of that science in the dumpster (I haven’t stayed current but read the link FF supplied with interest).. Apparently modern genetics have relegated fish to a lesser status than they previously had in the animal kingdom

[Maclintick]

Late to this thread, but in addition to all the excellent suggestions I'd add the Pech Merle caves at Cabrerets in the Lot (approx 1 hr 30 from Les Eyzies by car) now one of the few prehistoric cave-painting sites where visitors can still view the originals rather than replicas. Numbers are very limited in order to manage CO2 & H2O exudations, so pre-booking would be essential -- although I don't remember doing this when visiting in 1978 !