Is this the oldest map in Europe? Huge stone slab engraved with markings 4,000 years ago depicts a region of France in the Bronze Age
- A stone slab forgotten for a century has been considered the oldest map in Europe
- The stone slab dates back to about 4,000 years ago during the Bronze Age
- It was first discovered in France in 1900 and then stayed in a castle cellar until 2017.
- Experts recently looked at the plaque, which shows engravings from West Brittany
- There is a 3D shape to represent the valley of the Odet River in France
A Bronze Age stone slab discovered in France in 1900 has been rediscovered by a new analysis that considers it to be the oldest known map in Europe.
A team of French scientists has determined that the markings were engraved 4,000 years ago and describe an area in western Brittany, France.
The plaque, nicknamed the Saint-Bélec Plate, includes elements that the team says it would expect in a prehistoric map – including “repeated motifs joined by lines to give the appearance of a map.
The engraved surface suggests that the topography of the plate was intentionally in 3D to represent the valley of the river Odet, while several lines seem to describe the river network.
Scroll down for the video
A Bronze Age stone slab discovered in France in 1900 has been rediscovered in a new analysis that considers it to be the oldest known map in Europe.
“A map is ‘a drawing or plan of the surface of the earth or part of it,'” the team wrote in the announcement.
“Slabul Saint-Bélec really bears the three elements that are most likely of the prehistoric cartographic representation: the homogeneous composition with identical engravings in technique and style and the repetition of the motifs.”
The plaque has been forgotten over time as it has moved to various locations in France.
It was first reused in a burial structure at the end of the First Bronze Age.
A team of French scientists has determined that the markings were engraved 4,000 years ago and describe an area in western Brittany, France.
Using high-resolution 3D surveys and photogrammetry of the plate, the team was able to confirm that the engravings match 80% of an area surrounding the 18-mile-long Odet River.
The plaque formed one of the walls of a stone coffin that held a number of bodies with engravings turned towards the inside of the tomb.
When it was first unearthed in 1900, experts moved it to the Museum of National Antiquities in 1924 and then moved it to a caste in France until it was found in 2014.
However, researchers at the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap), the University of Bournemouth and the University of West Brittany have set their sights on the carved plaque until 2017.
Using high-resolution 3D soundings and plate photogrammetry, the team was able to confirm that the engravings fit 80% of an area surrounding the 18-mile-long Odet River.
The plaque, nicknamed the Saint-Bélec Plate, includes elements that the team says it would expect in a prehistoric map – including “repeated motifs joined by lines to give the appearance of a map.
When it was first unearthed in 1900, experts moved it to the Museum of National Antiquities in 1924 and then moved it to a caste in France until it was found in 2014. However, it was not until 2017 that researchers discovered its true meaning
“This is probably the oldest map of an identified territory,” Dr Clément Nicolas of the University of Bournemouth, one of the study’s authors, told the BBC.
“There are many such maps carved in stone around the world. In general, these are just interpretations. But this is the first time a map has described an area on a certain scale. ‘
The stone slab is five feet by 6 feet long and is said to point out that the area was a territory of the hierarchical political entity that strictly controlled a territory in the early Bronze Age, and its rupture could have indicated condemnation and deconsecration.