Thursday 6 August 2009

How Do You Make A Map Before The Advent Of Paper?

draw it on a rock! above is what many believe to be the oldest map in western Europe, it is thought to be over 13,000 years old, a team led by Pilar Utrilla from the University of Zaragoza in Spain, discovered the rock in 1994 but it has taken them 15 years to disentangle the mess of etched lines, they appear to show a prominent peak nearby as well as rivers, ponds and scrubland, there are also recognisable sketches of animals including reindeer, a stag and some ibex, the slab was etched at a time of great activity in the Navarre region of Spain, humans were pushing northwards and having to co-operate and perhaps divide up land, following the ice age just 3,000 years before, great find but for me pass the A-Z!

No comments: