The gate of the year

Figure above:

Bone plate found in the Abri Blanchard (Dordogne, France) and exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum (Musée d'Archéologie Nationale), Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France. On its surface can be observed a series of little engravings, that Alexander Marshack has interpreted as representations of lunar cycles. This object seems to be one of the best evidences for the existence of computing and astronomical reckoning systems during the Upper Palaeolithic. The date of the artefact is attributed to 32,000 years B.P.
[Image: http://www.ahrtp.com/EG_Images7/]

Figure below:

Reconstruction of the moon cycles represented on the bone plate from the Abri Blanchard, according to the interpretation given by A. Marshack (1972).
[Image: http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/28/rosenberg.php]




Seasonal Cycles

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Figure above: Bone plate found in the Abri Blanchard (Dordogne, France) and exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum (Musée d'Archéologie Nationale), Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France. On its surface can be observed a series of little engravings, that Alexander Marshack has interpreted as representations of lunar cycles. This object seems to be one of the best evidences for the existence of computing and astronomical reckoning systems during the Upper Palaeolithic. The date of the artefact is attributed to 32,000 years B.P. [Image: http://www.ahrtp.com/EG_Images7/] Figure below: Reconstruction of the moon cycles represented on the bone plate from the Abri Blanchard, according to the interpretation given by A. Marshack (1972). [Image: http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/28/rosenberg.php]