A joint international research team has identified a unique 'Stellar Map' carved into a large obsidian slab in a remote cave 3,000 meters above sea level in Ethiopia's Bale Mountains. The artifact, dating to approximately 10,000 BCE, features precise etchings that correspond to the positions of the Pleiades and Orion constellations as they would have appeared from the Southern Hemisphere during the late Pleistocene.
Found alongside the map was a ritual cache containing several dozen miniature obsidian spears and pigment-stained ostrich eggshells. Researchers believe the site served as a high-altitude ceremonial center where early hunter-gatherers tracked seasonal movements of game through celestial observation, providing new insights into the cognitive and symbolic lives of early humans in Africa.