An early 3D-map of a territory? the bronze age carved slab from Saint-Belec, Leuhan (Brittany, France)
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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| Date | 2021-11 | ||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Nicolas Clement1, Pailler Yvan2, Stephan Pierre3, Pierson Julie, Aubry Laurent4, Le Gall Bernard5, Lacombe Vincent6, Rolet Joel7 | ||||||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow, Department of Archaeology & Anthropology │UMR 8215 Trajectoires, Bournemouth University, Christchurch House CG17, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB UK 2 : UMR 6554 LETG, INRAP│UBO│IUEM, Rue Dumont d'Urville - Technopôle Brest Iroise, Plouzané, 29280 France 3 : UMR 6554 LETG, CNRS│IUEM, Rue Dumont d'Urville - Technopôle Brest Iroise, Plouzané, 29280 France 4 : UMR 8215 Trajectoires, CNRS│Centre Malher, 9 rue Malher, Paris, 75004 France 5 : UMR 6538 Laboratoire Géosciences Océan, CNRS│IUEM, Rue Dumont d'Urville - Technopôle Brest Iroise, Plouzané, 29280 France 6 : DIGISCAN3D, ZA de Viais, 4 rue des Tuiliers, Pont-Saint-Martin, 44860 France 7 : UBO, UMR 6538 Laboratoire Géosciences Océan, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Rue Dumont d'Urville, Technopôle Brest Iroise, Plouzané, 29280 France |
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| Source | Oxford Journal Of Archaeology (0262-5253) (Wiley), 2021-11 , Vol. 40 , N. 4 , P. 367-390 | ||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1111/ojoa.12230 | ||||||||||||
| Abstract | While early maps are known from all over the world, the key questions always involve: what exactly do they show? And what spatial extent do they cover? In this context, we recently used 3D-modelling to re-examine a carved stone slab datable to the Early Bronze Age (c.2150-1600 BC) that was found at Saint-Belec in Brittany. We show that the surface of the slab had been shaped in three dimensions to represent the relief of the surrounding landscape in which it was found, while several engraved motifs on it evoke contemporary structures known archaeologically. We argue that the Saint-Belec slab represents an area of c.545 km(2) corresponding to the extent of a prehistoric political entity. The carving and subsequent burying of the slab can be linked to the postulated rise and fall of hierarchical societies and raises many wider questions about socio-economic structures in temperate Europe at that time. | ||||||||||||
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