A team of archaeologists have uncovered what could be the world’s oldest three-dimensional map. The roughly 13,000-year-old Paleolithic map was found within a large piece of sandstone in the Paris Basin in northern France and shows a representation of the surrounding landscape and the female body. The findings are detailed in a study recently published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology.  The map was found at the Ségognole 3 rock shelter in the Fontainebleau sandstones south of Paris. This site has been studied for over 40 years and is well known for artistic engravings of two horses. Now, a team found that part of the floor of the sandstone shelter was also potentially shaped and adapted by a group of Palaeolithic humans about 13,000 years ago. They believe that the 3D map likely reflected the natural water flows and geomorphological features in the area. “What we’ve described is not a map as we understand it today–with distances, directions, and travel times–but rather a three-dimensional miniature depicting the functioning of a landscape, with runoff from highlands into streams and rivers, the convergence of valleys, and the downstream formation of lakes and swamps,” Anthony Milnes, a study co-author and a geologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia, said in a statement.  Mapping of the cave floor with École River valley. CREDIT: Médard Thiry. According to the new study, the direction of water flows and what features were dotting a landscape were potentially more important than measurements like time or distance for Paleolithic peoples.   “Our study demonstrates that human modifications to the hydraulic behaviour in and around the shelter extended to modelling natural water flows in the landscape in the region around the rock shelter,” says Milnes. “These are exceptional findings and clearly show the mental capacity, imagination and engineering capability of our distant ancestors.” They believe that the sandstone was sculpted to promote specific flow paths for both infiltrating and directing rainwater. An earlier study of this same area found that Palaeolithic people here had “worked” the sandstone in a manner that mirrored the female form. The opened fractures for infiltrating water in the sandstone would lead to an outflow at the base of the pelvic triangle.  [ Related: Researchers found what they believe is a 2,000-year-old map of the stars. ] The sandstone here was also sculpted to promote a specific flow for both infiltrating and directing rainwater. “The fittings probably have a much deeper, mythical meaning, related to water,” Médard Thiry, a study co-author and geologist from Mines Paris–PSL Centre of Geosciences, said in a statement. “The two hydraulic installations–that of the sexual figuration and that of the miniature landscape–are two to three metres [6.5 to 9.8 feet] from each other and are sure to relay a profound meaning of conception of life and nature, which will never be accessible to us. This completely new discovery offers a better understanding and insight into the capacity of these early humans.” A stone slab from the Abauntz cave in Spain is believed to be a somewhat similar map. This 13,600-year-old slab is engraved with markings that archaeologists believe could show the nearby geological features and animals that once lived there. The post Oldest-known 3D map also celebrated the female form appeared first on Popular Science.