Lunar cycle tallies and earliest calendars
Registro del ciclo lunar y primeros calendarios
- Date
- c. 30000 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Abri Blanchard, Dordogne, France
- Credited to
- Aurignacian hunter-gatherers
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Bones with series of notches (Abri Blanchard, Ishango bone) interpreted as tallies of the phases of the Moon. It is the earliest evidence that humans systematically recorded a celestial cycle.
The calendrical interpretation of the notches (Marshack, 1972) is accepted by many but not all prehistorians.
What it led to
- Lunar and lunisolar calendars
- Planning of hunting and seasonal migrations
- Origin of timekeeping