The human history of the Loire river valley is thought by some to begin with the Middle Palaeolithic period of 90β40 kya thousand years ago , followed by modern humans about 30 kya , succeeded by the Neolithic period 6, to 4, BC , all of the recent Stone Age in Europe.
Gallic rule ended in the valley in 56 BC when Julius Caesar conquered the adjacent provinces for Rome. Christianity was introduced into this valley from the 3rd century AD, as missionaries many later recognized as saints , converted the pagans. In this period, settlers established vineyards and began producing wines. The name "Loire" comes from Latin Liger , [ 8 ] which is itself a transcription of the native Gaulish Celtic name of the river.
The Gaulish name comes from the Gaulish word liga , which means "silt, sediment, deposit, alluvium", a word that gave French lie , as in sur lie , which in turn gave English lees. It is originally a mere trickle of water located at 1, m 4, ft above sea-level. The three streams converge to form the Loire, which descends the valley south of Mount through the village of Sainte-Eulalie itself. The Loire changed its course, due to tectonic deformations, from the original outfall into the English Channel to its new outfall into the Atlantic Ocean thereby forming today's narrow terrain of gorges, the Loire Valley with alluvium formations and the long stretch of beaches along the Atlantic Ocean.
In the upper basin the river flows through a narrow, incised valley, marked by gorges and forests on the edges and a distinct low population. River flow is particularly high in the river area near Roanne and Vichy up to the confluence with the Allier. The tidal stretch of the river extends to a length of 60 km 37 mi and a width of 3 km 1.
The geological formations in the Loire river basin can be grouped into two sets of formations, namely, the basement domain and the domain of sedimentary formations. The basement domain primarily consists of metamorphic and siliceous fragmented rocks with groundwater occurring in fissures. The sedimentary domain consists of limestone and carbonaceous rocks, that, where saturated, form productive aquifers. Rock outcrops of granite or basalt also are exposed in the river bed in several stretches.
