Thaïs Bone
The Thaïs Bone is an engraved - or notched - bovine rib fragment, discovered in the Thaïs cave (Grotte de Thaïs, variants Thaï/Taïs/Taï) in Saint-Nazaire-en-Royans, Département de la Drôme, France.[1]
The object dates from the end of the last Ice Age - around 12,000 years ago - having been created by people of the early Azilian culture, of the early Mesolithic period (sometimes referred to as Azilian-Epipalaeolithic).
It has been on display at the Musée de Valence since 2006.[2]
Significance
[edit]The composition of markings on the Thaïs bone represent the most elaborate time-factored sequence currently known within mobile Palaeolithic art.[3]
In 1991, the American archaeologist Alexander Marshack demonstrated that the notches were not a decorative representation, but a system for recording time. He conducted meticulous analysis of the bone fragment during the 1970s and 80s, and a comparative study of one hundred European notched bones. He proposed that the engraved notches corresponded to the notation of lunisolar astronomical observations, and constituted one of humanity's first calendars.[4]
Discovery and studies
[edit]The bone was discovered during excavations carried out in the Thaïs cave, between 1968-69, by two locals from Drôme: Jacques Léopold Brochier, an archaeologist, and his cousin Jacques-Elie Brochier (it was then called the Taï cave).[2] Prior to this a limited exploration of the cave was undertaken in 1878, facilitating access to the water-filled galleries.[1] The Brochiers conducted initial studies on the bone fragment during the early 1970s; analysis continued in stages over the next twenty years,[4] with the substantive analysis and interpretation carried out by Alexander Marshack.[1]
The notched bone artefact was found among the remains of marmots and ibex. It forms part of a large archaeological set of engraved bones and pebbles deposited at the end of the Last Glacial Period (LGP) - during a period of prehistoric fauna and megafauna migration.[2]
Description and interpretation
[edit]The Thaïs Bone fragment measures 87mm × 27 mm, and is engraved on both faces.
The composition consists of a boustrophedon sequence of short horizontal containing lines or sections, each of which carries irregular subsets of marks; none of the carvings could have occurred naturally.[1]
The engravings are non-decorative, and represent a complex, cumulative, non-arithmetical notational system of time-reckoning, and recording, based upon daily lunisolar observations - over the course of as much as 3.5 years.[1][3]
The shape of the overall pattern suggests that the sequence was kept in step with the seasons by observations of the solstices.[1]
The process of aligning the lunar phase (month) with the seasons of the solar - or tropical - year within lunisolar calendars is called intercalation.
According to the calendrical analysis the accumulation of notations on the bone therefore represent a form of visual cueing and problem-solving.[4]
The complex nature of the markings, coupled with their proposed calendrical purpose carries profound implications for the understanding of European early Mesolithic (Azilian-Epipalaeolithic) culture,[4] and within the fields of archaeoastronomy, and the history of art, calendars, and chronometry.
See also
[edit]- Archaeoastronomy
- Art of the Upper Palaeolithic
- Azililan
- Chronometry (History)
- History of art
- History of astronomy
- History of calendars
- History of timekeeping devices
- Lunisolar calendar
- Mesolithic
- Prehistoric Art
- Prehistoric Europe
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Ruggles, Clive L. N.; ICOMOS; International Astronomical Union, eds. (2011). Heritage sites of astronomy and archaeoastronomy in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention: a thematic study. Paris: International Council of Monuments and Sites. pp. 16–18. ISBN 978-2-918086-01-7.
- ^ a b c "Os coché". Musée de Valence. 2006. Archived from the original on 14 April 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ a b "The Thaïs Bone, France". UNESCO Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d Marshack, Alexander (1991). "The Taï Plaque and Calendrical Notation in the Upper Palaeolithic". Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 1 (1): 25–61. doi:10.1017/S095977430000024X.
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