Thury, Yonne

Thury (tyʁi) is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, in the natural region of Forterre. Its inhabitants are called Thurycois and Thurycoises. Thury's is attested as Tauriacus in the high medieval Gesta of the Bishops of Auxerre (see below); Thuraco in 1369 (Pouillé); Thoriaco of the fourteenth century (Pouillé). Tauriacus originally referred to a field or property of one Taurus, possibly Taruos in Gaulish. The Gallo-Roman suffix -acus or -acum is of Gaulish origin and indicates a person's property. This suffix (fr) often evolved into -y in many French place names, in Thury's region and far beyond. An alternative etymology would be from the appellative turra, of pre-Latin and possibly Gaulish origin and the root of many toponyms. Thury's hamlets (hameaux) include Colangette, Gémigny, Grangette, La Forêt, Le Boichet, Les Grands Moulins, Moulery, and Panny. The altitude of the village of Thury is 225m. The higher localities on Thury's territory are: Les Grands Moulins, at 327.5m; La Justice, at 327m; Le Moulin Buteau, at 325m; Le Roichat, at 303.6m; Le Bois de Mont, at 301.2m; and Marchat, at 292m. Beyond Thury's boundaries, the highest points in the surroundings are at Taingy, 338m; Perreuse, 373m; and the old mill of the Montagne des Alouettes on the territory of Sougères, 366.8m. A local belief that the latter's name is derived from the Roman Legio V Alaudae is no longer held true, and the name appears to stem from the locale's feudal history. Chalk quarries near the settlement of Bois de Thury were exploited from 1850 to 1940. Prehistoric traces of human presence in Thury, determined by finds of flint remains, go back to the Neanderthals about 40,000 years BCE. Neolithic objects (ca. 6000–3000 BCE in the region) discovered by Mr Creusard, including a polished stone pestle that was used to crush grain, are held in the small museum inside the church's tower. Burgundian palaeographer Maximilien Quantin reported the finding in 1862 of bronze objects (a ring, a hatchet and a key) from the Bronze Age (ca.