Stone slab with mountains and rivers: oldest map of Europe 4,000 years old found

Since people started to travel, it has become necessary to track and mark the places visited. From road maps to weather tracking, maps accompany humanity as an integral part of the entire human experience.

There are many historical and ancient maps that help us learn how and where our ancestors traveled. Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, and many other cultures had their own versions of maps, some of which have survived. Although they are very different from modern ones and often wrong, they give an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of our ancestors. One of these maps is the Saint-Belec Plate, Grunge, which has become the oldest map of Europe.

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ancient discovery

The Saint-Bélec plate was excavated in the Brittany region of France in the 1900s. A man named Paul du Chatelier came across this broken stone slab in a Bronze Age tomb while excavating. Following the discovery, the map was moved to a private collection before being acquired by the National Archaeological Museum two decades later. He was not mentioned for another 60 years.

In the 1990s the stove was returned to the Chatelier home, where it was forgotten again until 2014. Only three years later, the plate was examined by a research team, and after a lot of experimentation and hard work by archaeologists, the true value of the find was determined.

The oldest map of Europe

At first glance, the slab may seem like a stone with intricate carvings that look like random lines, but it’s actually full of meaning. The plate is dated between 2150 and 1600 BC. to. and in this case, this is the oldest map found in Europe. It is believed that this slab was used as part of the reburial of Saint Belek during the Bronze Age.

Besides the impressive age of the sheet, it has many features consistent with other ancient maps. The map itself is actually 3D and contains various lines and bumps representing rivers and mountains. This map shows the area along the Odet River in western France. While its exact purpose remains a mystery, scientists say one possible application is “the administration of the area and the distribution of control over the land.”

Previously Focus He wrote about why great civilizations suffered a mysterious collapse 3,200 years ago. Scientists have identified several causes.

Source: Focus

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