How old is this ancient vision of the stars?


The Nebra Sky Disk is considered to be the oldest known representation of the universe. Revealed by robbers in 1999 and then recovered from a sting by archaeologists and law enforcement a few years later, the ancient brass artwork adorned with the golden decoration of the night sky has sparked heated debate.

Now, the pair of German archaeologists, questioning the age and origin of the disc, will add another chapter to the intricate saga of the charming object.

The disc is currently believed to be about 3,600 years old, dating to the Bronze Age. The robbers who initially busted him said he was buried on a hill near the German city of Nebraska, next to weapons of the same era.

Rupert Gabbard, director of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich, and Rüger Digger Krause, a professor of early European history at Goethe University Frankfurt, have now proposed that the disc is an Iron Age product that will make it nearly 1,000 years old.

The researchers also argued that the disk was largely moved by robbers from another location to the Nebra site, meaning it may not have been associated with other artifacts or Nebra itself, according to a study published this month in the journal Archeology Information.

“We find the disk to be the same, as a single artifact, because nothing fits close to the area around it,” said Dr. Krauss.

The State Museum Pref Prefirsty in Halle, Germany, which displays the Nebra Sky Disk, issued a statement calling the team’s findings “demonstration false” and “easily denied.”

“If you don’t refer to all the data, it’s the biggest mistake of science,” said Harald Meller, the museum’s director. “What these peers do only refers to very limited data that seems to fit into their system.”

D Ge. Gabbard and Drs. Krauss expressed doubts about some of the earlier assumptions concerning the disc.

The artifact is believed to be associated with Bronze Age objects because the clay on the objects indicated a normal period, but this study reveals conflicting court documents about the assessments. Dr .. Gabbard and Drs. According to Krause, some of the weapons associated with the disc may not date from the Bronze Age or come from the same deposit.

Researchers suspect that the original robbers moved the artefacts to Nebra to keep their site secret from professional archaeologists.

“They never tell you the place where they were digging because it’s like a treasure trove for them,” said Dr. Gabbard. “They’ve gone back to the same place to get and sell new stuff.”

Controversy over the authenticity of the Nebra Sky Disk is not uncommon. Its stunning design has stunned both experts and the public, but it has also raised concerns that it could be fake.

“The problem here is that it’s so far away,” said Alison Sheridan, a former president of the Prehistoric Society, who is not involved with either team. “That’s why people say, maybe it’s fake.”

Emilia Paztore, an archaeologist at Hungary’s Tarr Istvan Museum, who studied the disc, noted that her black market background extends to these uncertainties.

“The Nebra disk, due to the circumstances of the discovery, is an archaeological discovery that could be debated forever until a definite specific dating method for metals is found.”

Nevertheless, there is now a strong consensus that the Nebra Sky Disk is an incredibly ancient artifact.

“It simply came to our notice then. It’s not a fake, ”Dr. Krause said of the disc.“ Anything you can figure out is a very interesting scientific discussion that, in the Bronze or Iron Age, has many different sides or objectives on how to judge this judge object. is showing.”

For that, Dr. Mel. Mailer’s team wants to refute the new study. Other archaeologists think they will have plenty to work on.

“What is presented here certainly argues that water does not go beyond the Bronze Age,” said Dr. of the new study. Sheridan.