The oldest map in the world? The mystery of a rock from 13,000 years ago that researchers describe as “exceptional finds”
Located in a cavern south of Paris, scientists have deciphered what could be the oldest three-dimensional map of the world. The Ségognole 3 rock shelter has been known since the 1980s for its artistic engravings of two Late Paleolithic-style horses on either side of a female figure. Now, this new research suggests that some of the floor was shaped to reflect the geography of the French cave region.
“A miniature model”
Dr Anthony Milnes from the Faculty of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences at the University of Adelaide participated in the research led by Dr Médard Thiry from the Mines Paris Geosciences Center – PSL. Already in 2017, Thiry established that Paleolithic people in the area had shaped the sandstone in a way that reflected the female form and had opened fissures to infiltrate water. Now, this new research suggests that about 13,000 years ago shaped these lands to reflect the geomorphological characteristics of the region.
According to Europa Press, it is not a map as we understand it today, with distances, directions and routes, but rather a three-dimensional miniature that represents the functioning of the landscape: the convergence of valleys, lakes and swamps and the course of rivers and streams. “For Paleolithic people, the direction of water flows and the recognition of landscape features were probably more important than modern concepts such as distance and time,” explains the research.
However, although it is not a strict geographical tracing of the exterior landscape, it does show clear references that we are facing a mapping. Furthermore, Dr. Thiry recognized that these features could not have formed naturally over the years, but rather were the work of early humans.
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