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Has a longstanding mystery at Mont-Saint-Michel finally been solved?
A rock at the popular tourist site has been stumping experts for years. But now a German archaeologist thinks he has solved the puzzle
An archaeologist believes he has solved a longstanding mystery at one of France’s most popular tourist attractions.
A rock at Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy had been puzzling experts for years.
François Saint-James, a guide at the abbey for more than 30 years, said no one had any explanation for the cupules or man-made hollows on the surface of the rock, which dates from the Neolithic period.
“We have a hole and we didn’t know why,” he told FranceInfo. “But then, thanks to this visitor, we discovered these little basins.”
The visitor in question was Stefan Maeder, a German archaeologist, who had seen similar man-made cupules across other sites in Europe.
He said the rock was a map of the north polar night sky and would have been considered sacred.
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Mont-Saint-Michel : le mystère du trou dans le rocher élucidé
— Lieux d’Histoire (@lieuxdhistoire) May 1, 2023
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Mr Saint-James said: “It’s a map of the polar night sky from this epoch, about 6,000 years ago.”
Researchers have since reproduced the map by computer and found it to be entirely accurate, based on the one fixed point of the North Star.
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