 | The
story of Paris begins with pre-history: Ancient human presence: The constant presence
of man in Paris is recorded from 5000 years BC. Remains of hunting, mammoth bones,
and those of deer and reindeer dating from that epoch were discovered in 1886
in a quarry at Beaugrenelle. Traces of a rural habitat and Neolithic tombs were
also unearthed during excavation in the courtyards of the Louvre. Other clues
indicate long-term settlements of these first occupants. Knapped flints were found
in 1912 in the Place du Châtelet, indicating the presence of a pre-historic
workshop. Similarly, objects were found during the excavation of warehouses at
Bercy in 1991: construction posts, polished stones, bone tools, ceramics.These
itinerant hunters who were the first inhabitants, found in Paris a favourable
site for a more permanent settlement. Paris enjoyed, in effect, a temperate climate
all year round, even if – at that time – the climate was different.
The topography is flat, with the exception of the surrounding hills of Montmartre
(the highest point in Paris at 129 metres), Menilmontant, Chaillot, Belleville
and Charonne. |  |