Nebra sky disc facts for kids
The Nebra Sky Disc is an amazing bronze disc that is about 30 centimeters (12 inches) wide and weighs 2.2 kilograms (4.8 pounds). It has a cool blue-green color, called a patina, and is decorated with gold symbols. These symbols usually represent the Sun or a full moon, a crescent moon, and many stars. One group of seven stars is thought to be the Pleiades star cluster.
Two golden arcs were once on the sides of the disc. They probably showed the angle between where the sun rises and sets during the longest and shortest days of the year (the solstices). One of these arcs is now missing. Another arc at the bottom, with parallel lines, is often seen as a solar boat with oars. Some people think it could also be a rainbow, the Aurora Borealis, a comet, or a sickle.
The disc was found buried on the Mittelberg hill near Nebra in Germany. Experts believe it was made around 1800–1600 BC. This means it comes from the Early Bronze Age and belongs to the Unetice culture. Many scientific tests on the disc, the items found with it, and the discovery spot confirm this old age.
The Nebra Sky Disc shows the oldest clear picture of astronomical events known anywhere in the world. In 2013, it was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. It was called "one of the most important archaeological finds of the twentieth century."
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How the Disc Was Found
The Nebra Sky Disc was found in 1999 by two people, Henry Westphal and Mario Renner. They were looking for treasure with a metal detector. They did not have permission to dig for old items, and their actions damaged the disc and parts of the site. Along with the disc, they found two bronze swords, parts of two axes, a chisel, and pieces of spiral armbands.
The next day, the finders sold everything for a lot of money to a dealer. The disc was then sold several more times. By 2001, people started to hear about this amazing disc.
In February 2002, the state archaeologist, Harald Meller, worked with the police to get the disc back. They found it in Basel and bought it from a couple who were trying to sell it. The original finders were eventually found. They agreed to show the police and archaeologists where they found the disc.
Archaeologists then dug at the site. They found proof that the finders' story was true. There were traces of bronze items in the ground. Also, the soil at the site matched soil found stuck to the disc. Today, the disc and the other items found with it are kept at the Halle State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
The place where the disc was found is an ancient enclosure on top of a 252-meter (827-foot) hill. This hill is in the Ziegelroda Forest, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Leipzig. This area was settled long ago in the Neolithic era. The Ziegelroda Forest has about 1,000 ancient burial mounds called barrows.
At this special spot, the sun seems to set behind the Brocken mountain during the summer solstice. The Brocken is the highest peak of the Harz mountains, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the northwest.
How Old Is the Nebra Sky Disc?
The axes and swords found with the disc helped experts figure out its age. These items are from around 1700–1500 BCE. Small pieces of birch bark from the sword handles were tested using Radiocarbon dating. These tests showed the bark was from between 1600 and 1560 BCE. This matches the time when the disc was buried. The disc itself was probably made even earlier and used for several generations before it was buried. Tests on the metal and its corrosion (rust-like layer) also support this early Bronze Age date.
Where Did the Metals Come From?
Scientists have studied the metals in the Nebra Sky Disc. An early study showed that the copper came from a place called Bischofshofen in Austria. The gold was thought to be from the Carpathian Mountains.
However, a newer study found something different. The gold used in the first version of the disc came from the Carnon River in southern Cornwall, England. The tin in the bronze also came from Cornwall. This shows that people traded materials over very long distances even in the Bronze Age.
How the Disc Changed Over Time
The Nebra Sky Disc was changed and updated four times during its history:
- At first, the disc had 32 small round gold circles. It also had one large gold circle and one large crescent shape. The large circle is thought to be the Sun or the full Moon. The crescent shape is the crescent Moon. The small dots are stars. The group of seven dots likely shows the Pleiades star cluster.
- Later, two gold arcs were added to opposite sides of the disc. This gold came from a different place than the first gold. To make room, one small gold circle was moved, and two others were covered up. So, 30 small circles remained visible. These two arcs cover an angle of 82 degrees. This angle correctly shows the difference between where the sun sets in summer and winter at the Mittelberg hill (51°N latitude). These arcs relate to the Sun's path in the sky.
- The last thing added was another arc at the bottom. This arc is thought to be a solar boat. This gold also came from a different source.
- By the time the disc was buried, it also had about 38 to 40 small holes punched around its edge. Each hole was about 3 millimeters wide. The exact number is hard to tell because the edge is damaged.
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3) Addition of the "solar boat"
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4) Diagram of the disc in its current condition (a star and a part of the Sun—or Full Moon—have been restored)
Why the Disc Is Important
The Nebra Sky Disc shows us that people in the European Bronze Age knew a lot about astronomy. They carefully watched the Sun's path through the year. They also knew the angle between where the sun rises and sets during the summer and winter solstices. Older sites like the Goseck circle and Stonehenge also marked the solstices. But the Nebra disc is special because it's a portable object that shows this knowledge. The disc might have been used for both practical astronomy and for religious reasons.
The picture of the Pleiades stars with a crescent moon on the disc is very interesting. Some experts think it shows a rule for matching solar and lunar calendars. This would help create a lunisolar calendar, which combines both. A similar rule is known from ancient texts in Babylonia. This rule says that an extra month should be added to the calendar when the Pleiades appear next to a young crescent moon in the spring. This happens about every three years.
Harald Meller, an archaeologist, thinks that this knowledge might have traveled from Babylonia to Central Europe through trade. This is interesting because the Nebra disc shows this rule even earlier than the Babylonian texts. Baltic amber beads found in Iraq from around the same time show that there was a connection between these regions. However, some other experts disagree with comparing the Nebra Disc to the Babylonian texts.
The number of stars on the disc (32) might also be important. It could be a way to show the calendar rule using numbers. For example, the moon and Pleiades picture on the disc appears 32 days after the first visible crescent moon of the month. Also, 32 solar years (365 days each) are almost the same length as 33 lunar years (354 days each). This 32-solar-year cycle might be shown by the 32 stars on the disc, plus the sun (or full moon), adding up to 33.
Another archaeologist, Christoph Sommerfeld, believes the disc shows knowledge of the 19-year Metonic cycle. This cycle helps to align lunar and solar calendars. He thinks this cycle is also shown on the Trundholm sun chariot disc and the Berlin Gold Hat.
Some people have also suggested that the number of pin holes around the edge of the disc (about 38 to 40) has an astronomical meaning.
The Nebra disc has been compared to an ancient Greek poem by Hesiod, called Works and Days. This poem, written around 700 BC, talks about when to harvest and plow based on the rising and setting of the Pleiades.
A picture of a sun and crescent moon, similar to the Nebra disc, is also found on a gold ring from Mycenae in Greece. This ring is from the 15th century BC. It shows a female figure holding poppies, possibly a goddess. Poppies have also been found in settlements of the Unetice culture.
Some experts, like Emília Pásztor, have argued that the disc might not have had a practical astronomical use. She thinks the match between the arcs and the sun's movement might be a coincidence. However, a similar feature is found on the gold lozenge from Bush Barrow near Stonehenge. The angles on that object also match the angle between the solstices at Stonehenge.
According to Euan MacKie, both the Nebra disc and the Bush Barrow lozenge seem designed to show the yearly solar cycle at about 51° north latitude. He thinks they might be linked to a solar calendar studied by Alexander Thom. Both items used gold from Cornwall, England, showing a direct connection. The way the gold was put on the Nebra disc also seems to have come from Britain.
Is the Disc Real?
When the Nebra Sky Disc was first found, some people wondered if it was a fake. Peter Schauer, a professor, claimed in 2005 that it was not real. But he later admitted in court that he had never actually touched the disc, unlike the many scientists who had studied it. Scientific tests of the disc's patina (the blue-green layer) have proven that it is truly ancient.
Richard Harrison, a professor of European prehistory, also said in a documentary that he first thought the disc was a joke or a fake because it was such an amazing find. But the documentary also showed scientific tests that confirmed the disc's authenticity.
In 2020, a paper by Rupert Gebhard and Rudiger Krause questioned if the disc was from the Early Bronze Age. They suggested it might be from a later Iron Age. But other scientists, including Ernst Pernicka, quickly published a response. They disagreed with Gebhard and Krause. Many scientific tests on the disc, the items found with it, and the discovery site have all confirmed that it is from the Early Bronze Age.
Where to See the Disc
The Nebra Sky Disc has been the main attraction in many exhibitions. One big exhibition was called "The Forged Sky" (Der geschmiedete Himmel). It showed 1,600 Bronze Age items, including the Trundholm sun chariot. This exhibition traveled to Halle, Copenhagen, Vienna, Mannheim, and Basel between 2004 and 2007.
In 2007, a special visitor center opened near the discovery site in Nebra. The disc is now part of the permanent collection at the Halle State Museum of Prehistory in Halle.
The disc was also displayed at the British Museum in London in 2022 as part of "The World Of Stonehenge Exhibition." After that, it was shown at the Drents Museum in Assen.
A Replica in Space
In November 2021, a copy of the Nebra Sky Disc was sent into space! It traveled to the International Space Station with German astronaut Matthias Maurer on the SpaceX Crew-3 mission. Matthias Maurer was inspired by the Nebra Sky Disc when he designed the patch for his mission, called Cosmic Kiss. He also took ideas from the Pioneer plaques and Voyager Golden Records, which were sent into space carrying messages from Earth.
See also
- Bush Barrow
- Bell Beaker culture
- Golden hat
- Rillaton Barrow
- Mold gold cape
- Trundholm sun chariot
- Tumulus culture
- Antikythera mechanism
- Tal-Qadi Temple – The Tal-Qadi Sky Tablet
