Aurignac

Aurignac is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France, close to the Pyrénées. It was the seat of the former canton of Aurignac (population 4,160), which was composed of 19 communes. It is part of the ancient region known as the Comminges. Geography The town of Aurignac is located 60 km southwest of Toulouse and is, on average, 400m above sea level. It is in a regions of rolling hills close to the Pyrénées and is dominated by a ridge-shaped hill upon which the old town is built with the remains of a 13th-century castle at the top. History Aurignac is best known for the 1860 discovery, by Édouard Lartet, of prehistoric remains at the Cave of Aurignac, which led to the definition of the Aurignacian culture, an important phase in human prehistory. Evidence of early modern humans (often called Cro-Magnon man) has been found in Africa as far back as 300,000 years ago. When they came to Europe, about 45,000 years ago, their culture appears to have flourished with major advances in the use of tools and the development of figurative art. The Aurignacian culture has been called the first modern humans in Europe. The origins of the town are not defined, although the 1957 discovery of the remains of a Roman habitation, with a well-preserved bath-house, from the present-day town suggests that the area was inhabited during the Gallo-Roman period. In 777 a Benedictine priory was founded in Aurignac as a dependency of the Abbey of Saint Tiberi in the diocese of Agde. The first known official record is from 1109, regarding Roger d'Aurignac, the Seigneur of the town. In 1234, Bernard V, Count of Comminges, received the territory from his mother. By 1240, he had built a castle (the Château d'Aurignac) on the hill, around which the village grew.