The Nebra Sky Disk
In 2001, Swiss authorities recovered the Nebra Sky Disk after it had been found by illegal treasure hunters a few years earlier near Nebra, Germany. The 30cm bronze disk has a blue/green patina and a number of gold inserts that apparently represent stars, the crescent Moon, and the full Moon or Sun. There also are two arcs of 82°, which equals the angle between the positions of the summer and winter solstice sunsets at a latitude that corresponds to the Nebra area -- the same area where the disk's copper has been determined to have originated.
Experts have authenticated its veracity and have estimated that the disk was created about 1600 BC -- over 3,600 years ago. Even though there is clear evidence that civilizations had knowledge of astronomy long before this time, the significance of this find is that it's the oldest "portable" astronomical instrument ever found. In fact, the disk is also the oldest known realistic depiction of stars -- it had been previously believed that the oldest images were from ancient Egypt, about 200 years after the disk's creation. The Nebra Sky Disk discovery has radically changed our view of history, anthropology, and archaeology. It is unlike any other object ever found in that part of the world.
Experts have authenticated its veracity and have estimated that the disk was created about 1600 BC -- over 3,600 years ago. Even though there is clear evidence that civilizations had knowledge of astronomy long before this time, the significance of this find is that it's the oldest "portable" astronomical instrument ever found. In fact, the disk is also the oldest known realistic depiction of stars -- it had been previously believed that the oldest images were from ancient Egypt, about 200 years after the disk's creation. The Nebra Sky Disk discovery has radically changed our view of history, anthropology, and archaeology. It is unlike any other object ever found in that part of the world.
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