The Sky Disc of Nebra: A window to the Bronze Age world in Europe and beyond. Ernst Pernicka

This Keynote was delivered on the 25th November 2022 to an in-person and online audience for HEAS ( Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences) at the University of Vienna. The introduction is by Gerhard Weber, Head of HEAS. There is a short Q&A at the end of the video.

Early in the year 2002 a sensational find was rescued from the antiques market. It consisted of several bronze objects from clandestine excavations. They were reported to derive from a hoard in central Germany including including a bronze disc of about 32 cm diameter on which the night sky is depicted with gold inlays. In addition, two swords with gold decorated hilts, two flanged axes, a chisel and two arm spirals, all made of bronze, belonged to the hoard. These accompanying finds date the hoard securely to the developed central European Early Bronze Age (phase A3) and therefore around 1600 BC. The find is so exceptional, because the “Sky Disc of Nebra” is the earliest astronomically identifiable representation of the night sky, which has considerable implications concerning archaeoastronomy, archaeometallurgy, the history of religion and archaeology. The scientific investigations centered around the question of authenticity, the provenance of the metals and their production technology. All these questions have been resolved and the results will be presented.