Engraved stone map
Mapa grabado en piedra
- Date
- c. 13.7 ka · confidence medium
- Place
- Abauntz Cave, Arraitz-Orkin, Navarre, Spain
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens (Magdalenian)
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A stone block engraved with mountains, rivers, fords and animals, reproducing the landscape visible from the cave. The earliest known cartographic representation.
The reading as a map (Utrilla et al. 2009) is disputed; the Mezhyrich plaque (15 ka) and the Pavlov engravings (25 ka) have also been proposed as maps.
What it led to
- Planning of hunting routes and communication of territorial knowledge
- Abstraction of space in two dimensions: intuitive geometry
- A precedent for cartography and the notion of territory
Built on
- Figurative cave artc. 51 ka
- Engraved lunar calendar (Abri Blanchard plaque)c. 32 ka
- Figurative cave art
- Engraved lunar calendar (Abri Blanchard plaque)