Cutmark 3D, Cutmark Model

Images from a bone “plaque” from the Grotte du Taï, France, ca. 10,000 BC, which records a continuous serpentine sequence of sets and subsets of daily engraved marks for a period of more than three years. This is the world's oldest calendrical artifact.

Top: The image stack is reconfigured as left and right views that are here color coded as green and red respectively. Such an image, referred to as an anaglyph, permits the viewing of a 3D image with the aid of red-cyan glasses.

b) Depth characteristics are rendered as a color-coded map. From deepest to highest, the colors grade from dark blue, through greens at intermediate heights, and yellows, reds, and brown at highest points on the tool.

Bottom: Using sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) imaging methods, numerous high magnification views (an image stack) of two marks were compiled into a pseudo 3D model.

The Taï plaque has raised significant interdisciplinary psychological and neuropsychological discussion. Study of the plaque has concentrated on reconstructing the behavior of the engraver by examination of the marks in 3D. It can be confirmed that the marks change their characteristics every 28 days, thus representing a lunar calendar.