#saxony-anhalt
The Nebra disc.
The Nebra sky disc is a bronze disc of around 30 cm (12 in) diameter and a weight of 2.2 kg (4.9 lb), having a blue-green patina and inlaid with gold symbols. These symbols are interpreted generally as the Sun or full moon, a lunar crescent, and stars (including a cluster of seven stars interpreted as the Pleiades).
Two golden arcs along the sides, interpreted to mark the angle between the solstices, were added later. A final addition was another arc at the bottom with internal parallel lines (of uncertain meaning, variously interpreted as a solar barge with numerous oars, the Milky Way or a rainbow).
The disc has been attributed to a site in present-day Germany near Nebra, Saxony-Anhalt and was originally dated by archaeologists C1600 BCE, based on the provenance provided by the looters who found it.Researchers initially suggested the disc is an artefact from the Bronze Age Unetice culture, although a later dating to the Iron Age has also been proposed.
If its Bronze Age dating is accurate, the Nebra sky disc features the oldest concrete depiction of the cosmos yet known from anywhere in the world.
Credit: State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, Juraj Lipták
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