Nebra Sky Disk | Worlds Oldest Star Map | Ancient Astronomy | Lost History | Bronze Age Artifact

Nebra Sky Disk, The Ancient Star Map

The Nebra Sky Disk, which dates back 3,600 years. It is claimed to be the oldest human-made depiction of the night sky.

It can still be used to measure the angle of the sun at the solstices, and it dates back to Late Bronze Age Europe.

The Nebra Sky Disk, however, was not investigated by professionals for several years after it was unlawfully plucked from a German hillside in 1999, making it one of Europe's most intriguing archaeological mysteries.

The Nebra Sky Disk was discovered in 1999 on the Mittelberg hill in Germany, near the town of Nebra, after which it was named.

The crude excavation damaged the disk's outer rim, resulting in the loss of a chunk of the gold circle and one of the stars.

The Nebra Sky Disk was used to schedule crop planting and harvesting.

The bronze base has a blue-green patina, while the foreground has gold leaf overlays depicting a crescent moon, either the sun or a full moon, and 32 stars, including a cluster of seven stars that is thought to symbolise the Pleiades.

The horizons are represented by outer bands on two sides, while a smaller arc at the bottom portrays a "sun boat," which Bronze Age Europeans thought ushered in the daytime.

Most scientists believe it was used as an astronomical clock by prehistoric humans to determine when it was optimal to produce or harvest crops by telling them when the winter and summer solstices occurred.

"The displayed astronomical principles would not have been feasible without decades of intensive observation,", said Harald Meller, director of Halle's State Museum for Prehistory, which holds the disc.