8.4 Stone bar – “calendar”

This elongated artefact made from mudstone with cyclically repeating lines was discovered in a hearth by Bohuslav Klíma in 1986, approximately 1 metre from the edge of the triple grave.

 

Material: stone – mudstone

Dimensions (diameter): 13 mm

Exhibit type: copy of original (plaster)

Archaeological site: Dolní Věstonice II (Dolní Věstonice, Moravia)

Collection: Institute of Archaeology of the CAS, Brno v.v.i., Czech Republic

 

Despite the fragmentary nature of the artefact, he identified a series of scratches, in groups of 5, 5, 7 and 7, followed by 5 more nicks (i.e. 29 scratches in total) and interpreted the artefact as a lunar calendar.

Counting stick (after Klíma 1983)