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France Asks: Can You Solve The Riddle Of The Rock?

maximus otter

maximus otter

Recovering policeman
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A village in western France is offering a €2,000 (£1,726) prize for help in deciphering a 230-year-old inscription found on a rock on a remote beach.

Until now no-one has been able to make out the meaning of the 20 lines of writing, discovered a few years ago.

_106862418_rocklocalafp7may19.jpg


The metre-high slab is in a cove accessible only at low tide near the Brittany village of Plougastel.

Among the normal French letters some are reversed or upside-down. There are also some Scandinavian-style Ø letters.

Two years are visible - 1786 and 1787 - dating the inscription to a few years before the French Revolution. There is also the image of a ship with sails and rudder, and a sacred heart - a heart surmounted by a cross.

Some think it may be in old Breton or Basque, and that the person who wrote it may only have been semi-literate.

In one section the letters read: "ROC AR B … DRE AR GRIO SE EVELOH AR VIRIONES BAOAVEL".

Another reads: "OBBIIE: BRISBVILAR... FROIK … AL".

The public appeal for help is called "The Champollion Mystery at Plougastel-Daoulas" - honouring Jean-François Champollion, the linguist who deciphered the Rosetta Stone's ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics in the 19th Century.

Linguistic and archaeological enthusiasts are asked to register at the mayor's administration, then they will be sent photographs of the inscription. Hundreds of people have already expressed interest.

When entries close in November, a panel will choose the most plausible interpretation of the mystery.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48212442

maximus otter
 

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maximus otter said:
A village in western France is offering a €2,000 (£1,726) prize for help in deciphering a 230-year-old inscription found on a rock on a remote beach.

Until now no-one has been able to make out the meaning of the 20 lines of writing, discovered a few years ago.

_106862418_rocklocalafp7may19.jpg


The metre-high slab is in a cove accessible only at low tide near the Brittany village of Plougastel.

Among the normal French letters some are reversed or upside-down. There are also some Scandinavian-style Ø letters.

Two years are visible - 1786 and 1787 - dating the inscription to a few years before the French Revolution. There is also the image of a ship with sails and rudder, and a sacred heart - a heart surmounted by a cross.

Some think it may be in old Breton or Basque, and that the person who wrote it may only have been semi-literate.

In one section the letters read: "ROC AR B … DRE AR GRIO SE EVELOH AR VIRIONES BAOAVEL".

Another reads: "OBBIIE: BRISBVILAR... FROIK … AL".

The public appeal for help is called "The Champollion Mystery at Plougastel-Daoulas" - honouring Jean-François Champollion, the linguist who deciphered the Rosetta Stone's ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics in the 19th Century.

Linguistic and archaeological enthusiasts are asked to register at the mayor's administration, then they will be sent photographs of the inscription. Hundreds of people have already expressed interest.

When entries close in November, a panel will choose the most plausible interpretation of the mystery.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48212442

maximus otter
Click to expand...

"SLIPPERY WHEN WET" .. where's my prize money?
 
"...and could this mysterious stone, accessible only when at low tide, be holding a clue, a clue carved over 200 years ago by the Secret Order of the Knights Templar and could it finally unlock the secrets of Oak Island as to who buried something there, what it is and why? Could the Lagina brothers be one step closer to fulfilling their boyhood dream of solving The Curse of Oak Island?"

Marty: Well, we need more data.
Rick: I think it's worth exploring and looking into. Nothing should be ruled out.

etc
etc
 
Not to be a wet blanket, but the incisions are pretty deep for the period of runic writing, and it's bizarre - backward letters? Two dates? Some of it looks a weeny bit like Tolkien runic. Dare I put on the table college kids and touristy publicity? I don't know anything about Breton or Basque, but I think they use the normal alphabet.
 
Is there a full picture or transcription?
 
I want one too.

The bbc article says this

"Linguistic and archaeological enthusiasts are asked to register at the mayor's administration, then they will be sent photographs of the inscription. Hundreds of people have already expressed interest."

But that seems a bit excessive for something I would never be able to solve.
 
hero!

I'll start - reversed letters can be an indication that the carving is done by someone who can't read it.
English is etaoin shrudlu, which is pleasing the same and rather different :)
 
Frideswide said:
hero!

I'll start - reversed letters can be an indication that the carving is done by someone who can't read it.
English is etaoin shrudlu, which is pleasing the same and rather different :)
Click to expand...
Etaoin shrdlu.
 
Correct! :) and *ooops!*
 
Guys guys. That's language is baby language. Just a baby trying to write something that makes sense.
 
I wonder how close it is to Glozel? and the dates are interesting... do they have a reference to it from 230 years ago?
 
the dates don't really "prove" anything, I would like to know if there are any records of this stone older than 5 years and if any analysis has been dome of the carving style and technique. the letters look very deep for something supposed to be on a beach for a couple of hundred years.
 
@Eyespy agreed! It's why I'm querying the way they give the 230 years ago....
 
Its very deep carving for an idle prank, but I don't think this is 230 year old message. As an aside, characters with a score through are necessarily Scandinavian. Zeros are sometimes scored through in hand written messages to make it clear they are not O, although this does seem like extra work with a chisel given the ambiguity of the rest of the characters!
 
Does it look anything like the inscriptions that allegedly put Vikings in the new world?
 
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