Archaeologists have launched new excavations in western France to try to decipher the Saint-Bellec slab, which was carved four thousand years ago and is considered the oldest map of a region in Europe.<\/p>\n
At the site of Saint-Bellec in Louannes in the mountains of Brittany, archaeologist Yvan Payet at the University of Western Brittany said he and his colleagues were seeking to \u201cbetter determine the context of the discovery, obtain dating elements\u201d and to \u201cverify whether any fragments still exist,\u201d reports Al-Rai daily.<\/p>\n
While excavating this grave, Paul de Chatelier (1833-1911) discovered the inscribed tablet in 1900, before it was forgotten for more than a century.<\/p>\n
The archaeologist wrote at the time, \u201cWe must not let imagination mislead us, and let us leave the matter of reading (the tablet) to some Champollion, who may exist one day,\u201d referring to the French Egyptologist Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Champollion, who succeeded in deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic language.<\/p>\n
Yvan Payet and researcher Clement Nicolas had previously partially completed this decryption process since they found the painting in 2014, in one of the basements of the National Museum of Antiquities in Saint-Germain-Annelet, on the outskirts of Paris.<\/p>\n
Payet recounted that \u201ccertain engraved symbols that immediately seemed to make sense\u201d were present from the beginning.
\nThe researchers sought to confirm their initial intuition by conducting a three-dimensional scan of this slab, which measures 2.20 meters by 1.53 meters, to compare it with current maps using a statistical method. It turns out that the slab is 80 percent similar to the current terrain.<\/p>\n
Cl\u00e9ment Nicole explained that they were able to recognize in the tablet inscriptions \u201cthe hydrographic network and the topography of the Black Mountains.\u201d He added, \u201cWe still have to get to know all the symbols of geometric shapes, the explanations attached to them, and the methods….\u201d<\/p>\n
The most mysterious of these symbols are small circular cavities ranging in diameter from one to ten millimeters that were cut into the slab, which may represent dwellings or geological deposits.<\/p>\n
Kleiman pointed out the necessity of conducting a \u201csurvey\u201d of the area in order to \u201cmatch the locations that appear on the map\u201d with what exists on the ground. He expected this task to take \u201c15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bayet considered that \u201crelying on the map to try to find archaeological sites is a wonderful method.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t usually work this way at all.\u201d He described it as a “treasure map.”<\/p>\n
This stage, which combines photography from the air or while walking, will provide conclusive evidence of the topographical character of the inscriptions, but it will also allow for a more accurate dating of the map.<\/p>\n
Nicholas believed that \u201cthe dating of these sites is what will provide a scope for dating the inscriptions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Archaeologists have launched new excavations in western France to try to decipher the Saint-Bellec slab, which was carved four thousand years ago and is considered the oldest map of a region in Europe. At the site of Saint-Bellec in Louannes in the mountains of Brittany, archaeologist Yvan Payet at the University of Western Brittany said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":141532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\n