2 KELIQULE AQUITANIC.E. 



Aquitania Tertia ; and detached portions of the two other Aquitaines subsequently 

 took the names of Upper and Lower Guyenne, supposed to be a corrupted form of 

 the name Aquitaine. 



Still later, a considerable part of the three Aquitaines, thus dismembered and 

 partitioned, sometimes belonging to the Crown of Trance, sometimes held by the 

 Kings of England, long remained the theatre of international strife, which did not 

 cease until the middle of the 15th century, when all the territories for the pos- 

 session of which the English had so long struggled in that region were definitely 

 reunited to France. 



Considered with reference to the division of France into Provinces, which ceased 

 to exist in 1789, the " Aquitania Prima " of the Romans, which had Avaricum 

 (Bourges) for its metropolis, corresponded with the Provinces of Berri, Auvergne, 

 Quercy, GeVaudan, Albigeois, Limousin, Rouergue, and Velay. Aquitania Secunda, 

 the metropolis of which was Burdigala (Bordeaux), comprised the Provinces of 

 Angoumois, Bordelais, Me" doc, Agenais, Pe"rigord, Poitou, and Saintonge. Aquitania 

 Tertia, or Novempopulania, having Elusa (Eauze) for its metropolis, corresponded 

 only with the Provinces of Beam and Bigorre and a large part of Gascony. 



Although the archaeological researches of which this Work is intended to give 

 some account have been carried out only at some circumscribed points of the 

 different provinces belonging to the great Aquitania, the Authors have found it 

 convenient, without explicitly determining the limits of exploration, to adopt 

 this wide geographical title. 



Features of the Dordogne District. This Work will be principally devoted 

 to the description, accompanied by Figures, of the more interesting materials 

 which have been collected in that part of Perigord (the territory of the ancient 

 Petrocorii of Celtica) which forms at present the Arrondissement of Sarlat, in the 

 De"partement of Dordogne. 



This country is now traversed by the railroad from Paris to Agen (Central Line), 

 passing by Orleans, Chateauroux, Limoges, and Pe"rigueux. After passing the last- 

 named town about eighteen miles, and descending to the valley of the Vezere, 

 between the Stations of Miremont and Les Eyzies, the eye is struck by the sud- 

 den change which affects the physical aspect of the country. The two sides of the 

 valley rise in great escarpments of massive rock, more or less interrupted by 

 ancient falls. Their summit is usually crowned with projecting cornices, below 

 which are great horizontal niches or hollow flutings. These great flutings are 



