In 1999 , two Man went hunting for bury treasure in theSeigelroda Forest in Saxony - Anhalt , Germanynear a town call Nebra . Though they did n’t chance traditional treasure , their metal detector led the unlicensed artefact huntsman to an every bit unbelievable find : a collectionof two bronze brand , two hatchets , a chisel , bracelet shard , and , accord toUNESCO ’s Memory of the World Register , " one of the most crucial archaeological finds of the 20th century . "
That find was the Nebra sky disk , a bronze magnetic disk with a risque - immature patina and inlaid Au shapes . These symbols appear to be a full moon ( or possibly sun ) , a crescent moon , and stars , include a bunch that likely represents Pleiades . That might not seem so remarkable , but the Bronze Age artifact has since been dated to 1600 B.C. and is theoldest - cognize line drawing of cosmicobjects in all of human history , as well as the first love portable astronomical instrument .
As you might carry , the illegality of the excavation was n’t a headache for the treasure seeker . They exact to the black food market and the aggregation derive notoriety within a few geezerhood , sell for as high-pitched as one million Deutsch Marks ( about $ 590,000 ) .
Then , in 2002 , archaeologist Herald Meller joined forces with state constabulary to get a clasp of the Nebra sky magnetic disc . Meller set up a meeting to purchase the artefact , and as soon as the object seem , authorities descended .
Archeologists then confirmed the authenticity of the disk and were shocked and delighted to happen it was the real mickle . They still do n’t know when it was made or why , but say it was buried about 3600 years ago .
The disk is 12 inch in diam and weighs closely 5 Irish pound . While the low-spirited - green color seems apt , the phonograph record was plausibly a gold John Brown when it was first rendered and corrode to its current hue over prison term . In improver to its heavenly eubstance , the musical composition contains two golden bow ( tote up later ) at the sharpness which correspond to the slant the sunshine journey between the summertime and winter solstices for the parallel of latitude at which it was discovered . Of course the object leaves much to be debated , but scholars can all harmonise that the shapes are definitely heavenly .
The Nebra sky disk now sits in the State Museum of Prehistory inHalle , Germany .
[ h / tDiscover Magazine ]
