For nearly a century, ever since the caves were discovered in 1940, anthropologists have struggled to decode the lines, dots and Y-shaped marks carved into the rock here.
Now, in a study published last year, researchers from Durham University and University College London, analysed 800 such sequences and found that they contained 13 types of marks (sets of lines, dots and Y symbols), in patterns consistent with the 13 months in a lunar year.
Suddenly, the message of the marks became clearer: they could represent the mating, migration and birthing patterns of the deer, bison and horses drawn alongside.
No one likely lived in the Lascaux caves; they were more of an art and information centre. And so these marks, made 17,000 to 20,000 years ago, could represent the earliest public data charts in the world.
Go further back, as much as 50,000 years ago, and bones have been found across Africa and parts of Eastern Europe, with notches in them that coincide with the phases of the moon. These bones would have acted as a sort of early calendar.
These systems, of knots, notches and dashes, would endure for tens of thousands of years.
In 15th century South America - in the vast but largely isolated Inca civilisation that operated without money and without a script - a system of knotted ropes called quipu were used to track transactions and debt; record census data; track grain reserves.
We have been visualising data in one way or another, then, since more or less the start of collective living.
Charts came before language, trade and poetry. Because, first, we had to tackle the question of how to track the new sheep added to a flock, the days left before the wildebeest moved south, the number of people in a kingdom or soldiers lost at war.
Bu hikaye Hindustan Times dergisinin November 10, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Hindustan Times dergisinin November 10, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Bitcoin Bonanza? Don't Overlook Tax And Reporting
Bitcoin has surpassed its all-time high each day for the past week. On Wednesday, the token's price peaked at about $89,828, a 112% year-to-date surge.
Mahayuti to pick CM after polls through a democratic process'
The Mahayuti is headed towards a strong showing in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections and the winning lawmakers will sit together and take a decision on the chief minister's position in a democratic process, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said on Wednesday.
Top court cracks down on bulldozer justice by states
Describing a house as \"an embodiment of the collective hopes of a family or individuals' stability and security\", the Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down nationwide guidelines to curb arbitrary demolitions by state authorities, marking a significant moment in the battle against what has come to be known as \"bulldozer justice\"-- the practice of razing the properties of people accused of crimes, and, sometimes, of their families, often using earthmovers or bulldozers, without following due process.
Batting time: Preparations in lockdown mode for India
All-out attack failed against New Zealand, and Aussie opener Usman Khawaja seems to have a point
Number of crorepati taxpayers surges 323% in 10 yrs
The number of taxpayers with 1 crore plus gross annual income surged 323% to 350,129 in 2023-24 from 82,836 in 2013-14 while the number of income-tax assesses saw a 120% jump in last one decade to 79,212,146, signifying the government's policy nudge to deepen and widen the tax base while shielding the middle class, according government officials aware of the matter.
WHOLESALE PV SALES SLOW IN OCTOBER DESPITE FESTIVE DEMAND
India's wholesale passenger vehicle sales grew marginally year-on-year to 393,000 units in October despite two major festivals celebrated during the month.
Fox News host picked as US def chief
President-elect Donald Trump has said that the new secretary of defence Pete Hegseth is a true believer in America First approach
Biden meets Trump, promises smooth transition of power
Donald Trump left White House on January 20, 2021, as a bitter man angry at the 2020 election results that he continued to reject, as an isolated man whose own party sought to distance itself from Trump after the mob insurrection on US Capitol, as a politician whose political obituary was being widely written in Washington DC and beyond, and as a president who had broken the tradition of peaceful transfer of power.
COP29: Developing nations start work on new climate finance text
After developing countries rejected the first draft on the new collective quantified goal (NCQG), on Tuesday, co-chairs of the programme on NCQG at the COP 29 climate talks in Baku released another iteration, on Wednesday morning that runs into 34 pages.
Cautious rebuilding of Delhi-Kabul ties
The Taliban's appointment of a consul for the Afghan mission in Mumbai appears to be part of a nascent and cautious process of engagement between the two sides.