Odet

For other uses, see Odet (disambiguation).
Odet
The Odet at high tide
Odet is located in France
Odet
Odet is located in Brittany
Odet
Location
CountryFrance
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationBrittany
Mouth 
 • location
Atlantic Ocean
 • coordinates
47°51′45″N 4°6′9″W / 47.86250°N 4.10250°W / 47.86250; -4.10250
Length62.7 km (39.0 mi)
Basin size724 km2 (280 sq mi)

The Odet (French pronunciation: [ɔdɛ]; Breton: Oded) is a river in western France (Finistère department), which runs from Saint-Goazec (near Leuhan, in the Montagnes Noires of Brittany) into the Atlantic Ocean at Bénodet. The name of the town of Bénodet comes from the river; ben means river mouth in Breton.

The river runs past, or through, the towns of Bénodet, Combrit, Plomelin, Quimper, Ergué-Gabéric, Briec-de-l'Odet, Langolen, Coray, Trégourez, Leuhan and Saint-Goazec. It is 62.7 km (39.0 mi) long and its basin area is 724 km2 (280 sq mi).[1]

The river is popular with kayakers.[citation needed]

In 2021, an article published in the Bulletin of the French Prehistoric Society reported that archaeologists had interpreted the Saint-Bélec slab, a 4,000-year-old stone rediscovered in 2014, as a three-dimensional representation of the Odet valley.[2] This would make the Saint-Bélec slab the oldest known map of a territory in the world. According to the authors, the map probably wasn’t used for navigation, but rather to show the political power and territorial extent of a local ruler’s domain of the early Bronze age. Measures of the slab were 2.2 metres long and 1.53 metres wide.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - Odet (J4--0190)".
  2. ^ "Bronze Age slab found in France is oldest 3D map in Europe". BBC News. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Bronze Age slab found in France is oldest 3D map in Europe". BBC News. 2021-04-06. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  4. ^ "Stone slab found in France thought to be Europe's oldest 3D map". the Guardian. 2021-04-07. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  5. ^ "Bronze Age stone slab believed to be oldest 3D map in Europe". euronews. 2021-04-07. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  6. ^ française, Société Préhistorique. "04-2021, tome 118, 1, p. 99-146 - C. NICOLAS, Y. PAILLER, P. STEPHAN, J. PIERSON, L. AUBRY, B. LE GALL, B. LE GALL, V. LACOMBE, J. ROLET - La carte et le territoire : la dalle gravée du Bronze ancien de Saint-Bélec (Leuhan, Finistère) - Société Préhistorique française". www.prehistoire.org (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-14.