DURHAM, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by Durham University, 15,800-year-old engravings depicting fish caught in traps or nets have been identified among the more than 400 engraved plaquettes of schist, a type of metamorphic rock, from Gönnersdorf, a Paleolithic campsite located on the banks of the Rhine River in Germany. Researchers from Durham University and Germany’s MONREPOS Archaeological Research Center and Museum for Human Behavioral Evolution examined the plaquettes with reflectance transformation imaging (RTI), a new imaging technology, which revealed details of the fish mingled with grid-like patterns. The discovery is expected to shed light on Paleolithic diets and symbols and the social practices of these hunter-gatherers. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. To read about a 9,000-year-old burial with ritual objects uncovered in Germany, go to "The Shaman's Secrets."
