Editing Yonne (section)

==History==
The first evidence of occupation in this area is found in the Grottes d'Arcy-sur-Cure, where paintings have been found dating back 28,000 years. The Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers of that time also left behind numerous flint artefacts. The area is believed to have been occupied for about 200,000 years.<ref name=CRDP2>{{cite book
| author  =B. Schmider
| title   =L'Yonne, un département: Le paléolithique supérieur dans l'Yonne
| editor  =CRDP de l'Académie de Dijon
| year    =1984
| isbn    =2-86621-043-3
}}</ref> By 4000 BC, a wave of Neolithics arrived from the [[Danube River]] region of eastern Europe. They built substantial wooden houses and introduced pottery decorated with the characteristics of the [[Linear Pottery culture]]. Further waves of migrants followed, the [[Chasséen culture]], and the [[Michelsberg culture]].<ref name=CRDP3>{{cite book
| author =Claude Mordant
| title  =L'Yonne, un département: Le néolithique dans l'Yonne
| editor =CRDP de l'Académie de Dijon
| year   =1984
| isbn   =2-86621-043-3
}}</ref>

The [[Celts|Celtic tribe]] in the area were named "Icauna", after the River Yonne which they thought sacred. The region was later occupied by [[Gauls|Gallic tribes]]. In that period, the area came under the control of the [[Roman Empire]], whose chief town was Sens, which they called Agendicum. It was the capital of their province of [[Gallia Lugdunensis]], one of four provinces into which France was divided.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} The present main roads from [[Lyon]] to [[Boulogne]], and from Sens to [[Alise-Sainte-Reine]] date from this period. About this time, Auxerre, Tonnerre (Tornodurum) and [[Avallon]] were growing in size. In the fourth century, Sens became a walled city. The first bishops were appointed in Sens and [[Langres]], and they influenced the region profoundly because of their power.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

In 1771, the north-westerly part of the present department belonged to [[Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony]], the uncle of [[Louis XVI of France]]. The current Yonne department was organized and defined during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790, as a result of the passing of an Act on December 22, 1789.<ref>{{cite book|author=McPhee, Peter|title=The French Revolution, 1789–1799 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfDmJX3QhlkC |year=2001 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-160825-4}}</ref> It was carved out of parts of the provinces of [[Burgundy]], [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]] and [[Orléans]], and to a lesser extent from parts of the [[Nivernais]] and [[Île-de-France]].