Excavated in France in 1900 and forgotten for more than a century, new analysis reveals that an ornate stone slab from the Bronze Age (2150-1600 BC) is actually the oldest known map of europe.
Some researchers refer to this type of discovery as a “Sleeping Beauty” since, although the stone was found decades ago, its true story has only come to light today.
Sleeping Beauty
The broken slab was reused in the Saint-Bélec burial towards the end of the Bronze Age (1900-1640 BC). At the time, the slab formed one of the walls of a stone cist, a small coffin-shaped stone box used to contain the bodies of the dead. Its engraved face was turned toward the interior of the tomb, but its ends were hidden.
The slab was moved to a private museum in 1900 before the collection was acquired by the Museum of National Antiquities in 1924.
Now, researchers from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap), Bournemouth University, CNRS and the University of Western Brittany examined the carved slab, discovering that the slab has many of the elements expected on a prehistoric map, including repeated motifs joined by lines to give the layout of a map.
Des chercheurs de l'Inrap @bournemouthuni @CNRS et @UBO_UnivBrest viennent de mettre en évidence la plus ancienne carte en Europe, datant de l'âge du Bronze ancien. La recherche porte sur la dalle gravée de Saint-Bélec (Leuhan, Finistère) et paraît dans le bulletin de @SPF_Infos. pic.twitter.com/ZTbSDDUF2C
— Inrap (@Inrap) April 6, 2021
An examination of the etched surface shows that the topography of the slab had an intentional 3D shape to represent the valley of the Odet River, and several lines appear to represent the river network. The territory represented on the slab seems to relate to an area of about 30 by 21 kilometers, along the course of the Odet River.
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The news
This is the oldest map of Europe, it is engraved in stone and is 3,500 years old
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.