### id275459636 dot patterns are common motifs in Neolithic art > The [pattern of dots](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23230990-700-in-search-of-the-very-first-coded-symbols/) on the ivory forms an asymmetrical loop, but exactly what they mean is still an open question, says Talamo. “The most beautiful interpretation is that it is a lunar calendar,” she says. > > The motif is similar to the one found on the Blanchard plaque from France, an engraved bone dated to around 30,000 years ago, which has been postulated to be a hunting tally to count the number of animals killed, or a marker of the position of the moon over time. > > The excavations at the Stajnia cave also reveal how modern humans were in Poland around 10,000 years earlier than previously thought. “Poland was not supposed to have *Homo sapiens* there at this time,” says Talamo. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01ft3vn07a840qq2bwy1x2nsfs) - [[Mammoth Ivory Pendant Is Oldest Decorated Jewellery Found in Eurasia by Alison George#id275459636 dot patterns are common motifs in Neolithic art|View in Vault]] - [n] Evidence for [[Poland was a Neolithic center of culture]]