Rhinoceroses, lions and mammoth feature on the walls of the Chauvet cave, in southern France

In the Cosquer cave near Marseilles, with its entrance now far below sea level, a hand print is made

A Brassempouy, in France, a Venus figurine is carved which is the oldest known example to have facial features

The walls of the complex of caves at Lascaux in France are covered, over the years, with a vast number of paintings of animals

A passage grave with a superb corbelled dome is constructed on the Île Longue off the southern coast of Brittany

The Celts, moving west from central Europe, settle in France and northern Spain

The Romans establish a province in the south of France, still acknowledged in the name Provence

The Roman general Gaius Marius defeats the Teutones, a German tribe which has made deep inroads into southern Gaul

At the end of his year as consul, Caesar travels north to become governor of northern Italy and southern France

Julius Caesar begins the long slow process of pushing Roman occupation steadily northwards in France (or Gaul)

The Celtic leader Vercingetorix inflicts an unaccustomed defeat on Julius Caesar, at Gergovia, but is captured later in the year

In his winter quarters Julius Caesar writes The Gallic War, an account of his own achievements in suppressing the Gauls

The Romans construct the massive Pont du Gard to bring water to the city of Nîmes

On the order of Marcus Aurelius, Christians in Lyons are tortured to death - an instance of persecution unusual at this time

Warming to his new Christian role, Constantine summons more than 300 bishops to Arles to discuss the controversial issue of Donatus

St Martin founds the first monastery in western Europe, at Ligugé near Poitiers

The Vandals cross the Rhine into Gaul and move into Spain, from which the Visigoths soon push them on into Africa

The Roman city of Nîmes is sacked by the Vandals, in an early indication of the gradual loss of Gaul to the Germanic tribes

The Burgundians cross the Rhine and settle round Worms, before moving south to the Savoy region

The Visigoths, after twenty years of destructive wandering, settle in southwest France as Roman federates

Attila and the Huns invade Gaul but are defeated, somewhere near Troyes, by a Roman army supported by Visigoths and Burgundians

The 15-year-old Clovis inherits the Merovingian crown and becomes leader of the Franks - with his first capital at Tournai

Clovis and some 3000 of his soldiers are baptized in a massive ceremony at Reims

Gregory, bishop of Tours, brings his 'History of the Franks' up to this year

In the Frankish kingdoms the 'mayors of the palace' steadily become more powerful than their nominal masters, the Merovingian kings