The Celestial Disk of Nebra: Unique detector find of the "oldest star map" abroad for the first time

The Disc of Nebra is believed to be the oldest star chart in the world. It was found by two illegal prospectors with metal detectors in Mittelberg, Germany, near Nebra. The 3,600-year-old bronze artefact from the Unetian culture is considered one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century. ...but its credibility is disputed by some.
The disc, along with two swords and axes, a chisel, a bracelet and other items dating back to the Bronze Age, was discovered using a metal detector by two illegal treasure hunters in 1999. After tracking down a black market offer in 2001 and arranging a meeting for a fictitious purchase, the entire collection was seized by the police and handed over to the Halle Museum. Controversy has also surrounded the circumstances of the discovery of the treasure and some of the subsequent facts, with some scholars attempting to question the authenticity of the ...
The Nebra disc measures approximately 30 cm in diameter and is bronze with a blue-green patina on the surface. It is decorated with gold symbols representing the sun, the moon and some stars. It also depicts the solstices and other cosmic phenomena. According to Unesco, which has added the artefact to its list of world heritage sites, the disc provides a unique insight into humanity's early astronomical knowledge. It belongs to the German State History Museum in Halle, but is now on loan abroad for the first time ever, specifically to the British Museum, where it will be part of an exhibition on Stonehenge.
"The Heavenly Disk and the Sun Pendant represent two of the most remarkable surviving objects from Bronze Age Europe," said Neil Wilkin, curator of The World Of Stonehenge exhibition. "Both objects were discovered relatively recently, literally after remaining hidden in the ground for more than three millennia. We are delighted that both will become key elements of our once-in-a-lifetime exhibition on Stonehenge at the British Museum. Although they were found hundreds of miles from Stonehenge and even further apart, we will use them to illuminate the whole vast interconnected world of the Bronze Age, encompassing Britain, Ireland and continental Europe."

The amazingly well-preserved gold pendant mentioned above was also discovered using a metal detector in Shropshire in 2018. This time legally. Neil Wilkin recalled dropping everything when he first saw the pendant. "I was absolutely stunned, I couldn't believe my eyes," he said. "For me, it's the most important item from this period in the last 100 years." The pendant was purchased for £250,000 thanks to the support of the Art Fund and the American Friends of the British Museum.

While the original purpose of Stonehenge still remains a mystery, the stone circle, built around 2500 BC, is consistent with the sun's movements. The sun and its solstices are also marked on the Disc of Nebra. Like Stonehenge, the disc represents a kind of solar observatory, albeit in a "pocket" edition. Experts believe that it was the sun that was central to European religion at the time. Moreover, it has been discovered that while the copper used to make the disc came from nearby Nebra, the gold came from Cornwall, England.

Miranda Aldhouse-Green, a professor of archaeology with a focus on the Bronze Age, said the symbols on the Nebra disc "...represent part of a complex pan-European system of religion in which people observed the heavens, worshipped the sun and moon, and oriented their buildings according to their risings. And because the disk ties all these symbols together, it may tell us for the first time how people really saw and perceived the heavens and what they believed."

Although the disc is considered by experts to be a Bronze Age work, some have argued in the past that it is a fake artifact. Last September, the debate on the subject was renewed when two archaeologists published a new paper suggesting that the object could be about 1,000 years younger and therefore date from the Iron Age. But the German museum dismissed any doubts, saying that "some of the claims (by the archaeologists) were inconsistent, incomprehensible and that the scientists ignored other published research".

The unique and unrepeatable exhibition "The World Of Stonehenge" at the British Museum will begin on February 17 and end on July 17 next year.

Roman Nemec

A gold sun pendant from a 2018 find in Shropshire will be part of the exhibition along with the Discus of Nebra

The disc was found on a hill near the German town of Nebra in Saxony-Anhalt

Sources: bbc.com, dailysabah.com, londonworld.com