Researchers Unearth Oldest 3D Map in Europe from Cellar in French Castle

Researchers have unearthed a Bronze Age slab which they believe is the oldest 3D map of an area in Europe. The map, a 2m by 1.5m slab, was uncovered in 1900, BBC reported. After being forgotten for decades it was discovered gain in a cellar in a castle in France in 2014.

The rock has been named the Saint-Bélec Slab and is said to have been created in the early Bronze Age, between 1900 BC and 1650 BC. In 1900, it was unearthed by local archaeologist, Paul du Chatellier, when he was exploring a prehistoric burial ground in Finistère.

The map was then moved to a private museum and was later acquired by the Musée des Antiquités Nationales (MAN – Museum of National Antiquities) in 1924, Bournemouth University reported.

Somehow the map was forgotten for almost a century, being hidden away under a moat at Mr du Chatellier's home, the Château de Kernuz, BBC reported. Researchers located the slab in 2014. 

Archaeologists analyzed the markings on the slab and estimated it to be 4,000 years old. They believe it is a map of an area in western Brittany, BBC reported. These estimates make the stone slab, the oldest 3D map of a known area in Europe.

Researchers from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap), Bournemouth University, the CNRS, and the Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO – University of Western Brittany) came together to examine the slab, Bournemouth University reported.

The analysis of the map has been published in a study in the Bulletin of the French Prehistoric Society, BBC reported. As per the study authors, the "presence of repeated motifs joined by lines" implies that the map is of an area in Finistère.

According to the researchers, the indentations on the slab are a 3D representation of the River Odet valley while the lines reflect the area's river network. According to geo-location, the territory recreated on the slab is 80% similar to an area around the 18-mile-long stretch of the river.

"This is probably the oldest map of a territory that has been identified," Dr. Clément Nicolas from Bournemouth University, one of the study's authors shared, BBC reported. "There are several such maps carved in stone all over the world. Generally, they are just interpretations. But this is the first time a map has depicted an area on a specific scale."

Dr. Nicolas believes that the map was drawn to mark a particular territory, BBC reported. She speculates that it was the work of a small prince or king at the time. This implies that the societies in those times were much more advanced than what was previously assumed. "We tend to underestimate the geographical knowledge of past societies. This slab is important as it highlights this cartographical knowledge," she added.