# 120 million year old map of the Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276 "2002-06-04T00:31:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/1 "2002-06-04T00:31:06Z")
Yes, you read that right: [3-D MAP OF THE EARTH CREATED 120 MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO.](http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/03/29632.html) and [THE MAP OF “THE CREATOR”](http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/30/28149.html) > [@](#): > > A find of Bashkir scientists contraries to traditional notions of human history: stone slab which is 120 million years covered with the relief map of Ural Region. > > This seems to be impossible. Scientists of Bashkir State University have found indisputable proofs of an ancient highly developed civilization’s existence. The question is about a great plate found in 1999, with picture of the region done according to an unknown technology. This is a real relief map. Today’s military has almost similar maps. The map contains civil engineering works: a system of channels with a length of about 12,000 km, weirs, powerful dams. Not far from the channels, diamond-shaped grounds are shown, whose destination is unknown. The map also contains some inscriptions. Even numerous inscriptions. At first, the scientists thought that was Old Chinese language. Though, it turned out that the subscriptions were done in a hieroglyphic-syllabic language of unknown origin. The scientists never managed to read it… > … > > It was difficult to determine even an approximate age of the slab. At first, radiocarbonic analysis was carried out, afterwards levels of stab were scanned with uranium chronometer, though the investigations showed different results and the age of the slab remained unclear. While examining the stone, two shells were found on its surface. The age of one of them – Navicopsina munitus of Gyrodeidae family - is about 500 million years, while of the second one – Ecculiomphalus princeps of Ecculiomphalinae subfamily - is about 120 million years. Namely that age was accepted as a “working version.” "The map was probably created at the time when the Earth’s magnetic pole situated in the today’s area of Franz Josef Land, while this was exactly 120 million years ago… Anyone know anything about this? ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/2 "2002-06-04T00:35:37Z")
Have not heard anything about this, but just wanted to say that they could not have been THAT advanced if they were still drawing thier maps on stone. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/3 "2002-06-04T01:26:31Z")
That whole story sounds pretty whack to me, to the point where I want to see this “stone slab” and give it a good thump before I even accept its existence; but I would like to point out that dating a stone artifact by the fossils embedded in it strikes me as _highly_ dubious. You take a 120 million year old rock, with 120 million year old fossils in it. You carve stuff into the rock, last Thursday. Voila! A 120 million-year-old rock with week-old carvings! I mean, nobody is saying Michelangelo’s _David_ or the statues at Mt. Rushmore are millions of years old, although I’m sure the _rocks_ thereof are much more ancient than any work of human hands. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/4 "2002-06-04T03:44:15Z")
From the article second article in the OP: > [@](#): > > At first we thought that the stone was about 3,000 years. Though, that age was gradually growing, till we identified the shells ingrained in the stone to sign some objects. Though, who could guarantee that the shell was alive while being ingrained in the map? The map’s creator probably used a petrified find.” I’m guessing, as **MEBuckner** surmised, that the hypothesis within the last sentence quoted is, indeed, the case: the map was carved on a slab in which the fossils were already embedded. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/5 "2002-06-04T03:46:12Z")
Ignore that first “article” in my post… ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/6 "2002-06-04T03:49:08Z")
The link above makes it clear that they are not looking at an artifact from a 120m year old civilisation but from a 3000 year old civilisation: “Our research topic is about the possible migration of ancient Chinese to the territory of modern Russia: Siberia and Urals. We have discovered letters on the rocks made in ancient Chinese about 3000 years ago.” My reading of the story is that they at now point try to claim that the carving is 100s of millions of years old. The point of interest about the story is that they found an artifact that looks like it was more developed than the local culture 3000 years ago (which hadn’t got past drawing pictures of animals on cave walls) but may not have been more advanced than the contemporary chinese culture, leading them to wonder if the chinese hadn’t migrated to the Urals in that period. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/7 "2002-06-04T04:08:02Z")
Yes, the slab can be millions of years old while the carvings on it much much younger. Besides, the really ancient Chinese is very difficult to read, and there are only a few people on this planet who can. They probably don’t have one of these experts on their team. Sounds interesting nevertheless. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/8 "2002-06-04T16:25:51Z")
I saw that article a while back, and I thought it was ridiculous! So someone found a rock. If I took a rock tomorrow, and chiseled something on it, the rock would still be millions of years old. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/9 "2002-06-04T17:17:20Z")
I’m having a hard time deciphering what they claim the age of this map is. On the one hand, the tail end of thinksnow’s quote makes it sound like the guy is claiming the map was made 120 million years ago while others say only the rock is that old and the carvings a few thousand. If the guy is claiming that the map itself is 120M years old, that’s clearly ludicrous. The closest thing to a human at that point is some mouse sized mammal skittering around beneath dinosaurs. Funny this hasn’t turned up in more reputable journals yet. Interesting to see where it goes. ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/10 "2002-06-04T17:26:47Z")
See, being the dubious sort that I am, I agree with everything y’all have said. I just wanted to share this around and see if maybe I was missing something. I still find the bolded text below interesting, though: > [@](#): > > Geological structure of the slab was determined: it cosists of three levels. The base is 14 cm chick, made of the firmest dolomite. **The second level is probably the most interesting, “made” of diopside glas. The technology of its treatement is not known to modern science.** Actually, the picture is marked on this level. While the third level is 2 mm thick and made of calcium porcelain protecting the map from external impact. ---
**Author:** ![GeorgeAECF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9f8e36/32.png) [@GeorgeAECF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeorgeAECF)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/11 "2002-06-04T17:36:13Z")
If you read the article’s and their descriptions of the stone slab and how the slab was supposedly made, etc. It is so obvious it is so fake. Not manually made by a sonecutter, but by a machine… I mean, come on… what, these ancient peoples had a CNC machine to make this thing? Also, be aware that these articles have been TRANSLATED. From a Slavic language none-the-less. So, I feel we, as well as the translator, are taking the English for granted in some aspects. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/12 "2002-06-04T20:25:05Z")
I think a more important consideration is that Pravda runs a lot of articles which look like stuff in some tabloid and are probably just as accurate. ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/120-million-year-old-map-of-the-earth/112276/13 "2002-06-05T04:05:55Z")
Good to know, **rowrrbazzle**.