Sky Disc of Nebra

Just 100 years, the Sky Disc of Nebra in use – and the big part of it only as a Bronze Age decoration. The archaeologists believe for new studies in an Austrian mining region.

Halle – The Sky Disc of Nebra, a thousand-year-old calendar, has been used for their production in the Bronze Age, probably only 100 to 150 years. This is shorter than previously thought, scientists have so far assumed a period of 400 years.

The current findings based on new mining historical observations relating to the copper plate used in the bronze, “said Saxony-Anhalt’s state archaeologist Harald Meller. The material is according to researchers from Bischofshofen in Austria. “There was earlier reduced from about 3750-3700 years ago for the first time copper.” The disk had been buried 3,600 years ago, however. This results in an apparent lifetime of about 100 years.

The bronze disc with gold sky conditions shows the oldest concrete representation of the world star. It was changed several times. At around two kilograms, almost circular bronze disc with a diameter of 31-32 centimeters, can still be seen as the gold runs a ship, sun, moon and 32 stars. Meller holds the play by his own admission of “one of the most important discoveries in human history.”

“The builder was a genius who mustered at the target code for a combined solar and lunar calendar,” says the archaeologist. But shortly after manufacture, the disk had come into foreign hands. The new owners would not know the original meaning and rebuilt the disk to your needs.

Two grave robbers had been sentenced discovered the sky disc, along with other bronze pieces in 1999 at the Central Mountain near Nebra in Saxony-Anhalt. The treasure was secured in February 2002 by police in a simulated sales campaign in Switzerland.