The great cave sites around Les Eyzies and Lascaux harbour contain the earliest evidence we possess of primitive art.
The castles, bastides and churches that grace the countryside from Périgueux to the Pyrénées, from the Bay of Biscay to Toulouse and beyond to the Mediterranean, belong to a far more recent past.
From the coming of Christianity until the late 18th century, this lovely region was the battlefield for a string of conflicts.
The English fought and lost the Hundred Years' War for Aquitaine (1345-1453); this was followed by intermittent Wars of Religion, in which Catholics fought Huguenots (French Protestants) in a series of massacres and guerilla wars.
Today, nothing is left of these old struggles but crumbling ramparts, keeps and bastides which are part of the region's cultural and artistic heritage, attracting thousands of visitors every year.
Yet it is as well to remember that all the great sights here have suffered at one time or another from attacks of marauding soldiers: form the abbey church at Moissac, the 12th-century portal of which is a masterpiece of Romanesque art, to the awesome clifftop site of Rocamadour.
This region may seem incomparably rich in all the ingredients for a good holiday - uncluttered landscapes, empty roads, clean rivers and good regional cuisine - but the economy is fragile.
Over the last century, the southwest has suffered a decline in the old peasant way of life, resulting in a population migration from the countryside to the towns.
Perigord geese, reared for the area's celebrated "foie gras"
La Roque-Gageac in the Dordogne valley