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Scientists unveil 3,600 years secret behind the Nebra Sky Disc

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Nebra Sky Disc
Even 25 years after its discovery, researchers are still finding out new things about the 3600-year-old "Nebra Sky Disk". Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa

 

Admin I Sunday, December 01, 2024

 

BERLIN – Scientists have for the first time conducted a comprehensive analysis of the manufacturing process behind the Nebra Sky Disc, a Bronze Age artifact more than 3,600 years old.

The disc, discovered in 1999 near the German town of Nebra in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, is regarded as the world’s oldest known depiction of the heavens.

The study focuses on the detailed process of forging the disc’s bronze base. It reveals that the metal was heated to about 700 degrees Celsius and worked through up to 10 cycles of heating, forging, and annealing, a heat treatment process used to make a material less hard and more workable, to achieve the necessary deformation and shape.

Archaeologist Harald Meller said that the research examines the creation of the disc’s bronze form, not the gold elements attached to it.

Modern analysis techniques, including microstructural examination and imaging, confirmed the ancient craftsmanship. A sample taken in 2002 and re-examined during the study provided further data on the disc’s construction, alongside hardness measurements.

The Nebra Sky Disc, with its golden depictions of the sun, moon, stars, and a ship, was used by Bronze Age societies for up to 400 years.

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In 2013, the disc was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, which collects items of importance to humanity, and is considered one of Germany’s most significant archaeological finds.

The research was carried out in collaboration with the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, and the firm DeltaSigma Analytics.

 

 

 

 

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