The Neolithic era saw the appearance of the first dolmens, sepulchral tombs. It is from this époque that the first evidence of stone extraction dates, which produced the first Menhir statues, curious anthropomorphic steles.
With over 1,000 listed dolmens, Aveyron counts more megalithic monuments than any other département in France.
Blessed with an exceptional range of different types of rock, Rouergue has for centuries supplied carved stones using expertise handed down from one generation to the next, required for the construction of mighty cathedrals.

The civilising influence of wood has carved its imprint on the former province of Rourgue.
The traditional skills of yesteryear have all but disappeared: yokes, clogs, galoshes, barrels, cartwheels, carts, tools, implements, rakes, hives, pipes, chairs were all once made out of wood. Wood turning is a dying art. And yet, these traditions, such as the technique of hollowing out wood or barrel making, go back more than 2,000 years.
This "culture" derived from such a noble material has created a veritable atavism: during the 19th century, the wood workers of Rouergue were renown sculptors, creating huge timber structures of rare beauty, as well as masterpieces for churches such as retables, pulpits and choir stalls worthy of the "imagery" of the Middle Ages.
Many of these works of the Rouergue craftsmen are classed as Historic Monuments.

The art of iron working is deeply entrenched in Rouergue. Initially using surface minerals, then those extracted from below the surface; treated in furnaces and from the 12 th century onwards under the press hammer.
Not industry but forges and workshops where the spirit of creativity reigned. The founding of the company Houillères et Fonderies de l'Aveyron (Mining and metal working) by the Duc Decazes saw the dawn of a new era, that of industrialised metallurgy.

During the first century AD, the confluence of the rivers Tarn and Dourbie witnessed a vast expansion; the development of a centre for gallo roman pottery in what was once part of the ancient quarter of Millau. At La Graufesenque, over 600 potters created literally hundreds of millions of vases which they baked in huge kilns.
This luxury tableware, made of fired clay and often decorated and signed by the individual craftsman, was exported throughout the Roman Empire.

Cutlery making in Rouergue has experienced two periods of greatness:

• firstly, during the 14th-15th centuries, during which the bastide of Sauveterre was one of the major cutlery centres in southern France.
• more recently, during the 19th century, with the birth of the Laguiole knife (the result of the marriage between the traditional capuchadou, a knife with a fixed blade as used by the mountain dwellers of Aubrac and the Spanish navaja). This period was fruitful, thanks to two essential raw materials readily available on Aubrac: the purity of the volcanic water in order to temper the steel blades and the cows' horn with which to make the knife handles.

The art of leather working in Millau can be traced back as far as the 11th century and the financial scrolls at the end of the 12th century cite the names of those involved in leather working, from tanners to glove makers, as well as those involved in the intermediate stages.

The expertise brought by the Moors, the advances in dyeing as a result of the crusades, the advance in techniques for glove making with individual fingers, the craze, both religious and secular, for gloves as a sign of power all favoured the development of leather work and glove making.

The passing of the centuries brought new techniques and improvements in the manufacturing processes, resulting in the expansion of the industry until its zenith in 1963, when glove making accounted for some 6,000 jobs plus a further 1,100 in leather tanning and curing. Millau remains the centre for glove making in France.

The Ganterie Lavabre Cadet was established in Millau, the aristocrat, in fact the capital of French glove-making. It was admitted to the « Grands Ateliers de France » and is purveyor for thirty years to a lot of brands Haute Couture and Prêt à Porter. Mary Beyer, jewels and accessories Haute Couture creator, is currently focusing on developing the Lavabre Cadet brand especially for export.