1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: Boggi boom Here. At some point in ancient history, a 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: starry scene was immortalized on a disc of bronze. That 4 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: artifact is an enigma today, recovered by treasure hunters in 5 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,479 Speaker 1: It's been named the Nebra Sky Disc, after the town 6 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: of Nebra, Germany, near the site where the disc was found. 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: Some experts say this object might be the oldest surviving 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,200 Speaker 1: attempt to portray astronomical objects like stars in a realistic way, 9 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: but we're missing some important context. While the Nebrasky disc 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: is undoubtedly valuable, its age is open to debate. The 11 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: artifact measures about twelve inches or thirty centimes wide and 12 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: weighs about four and a half pounds or two kilos. 13 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: A series of about forty tiny holes were made along 14 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: the perimeter. The disc has a bluish green backdrop punctuated 15 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: by golden symbols. Special attention has been paid to seven 16 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: tightly packed dots on the disc. They most likely depict plaits, 17 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: a star cluster visible from both hemispheres. There's also a 18 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: large golden circle thought to represent the Sun or the Moon. 19 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: It faces a crescent shaped object that might be an 20 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: artist's take on an eclipse or a lunar phase. Finally, 21 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: there are twenty five golden dots, a curved line towards 22 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: the bottom, and two long arcs hugging the sides of 23 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: the disk the ladder of oak horizons possible reference to 24 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 1: the solstices. Who knows. Perhaps the disc helped farmers time 25 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: their harvests in accordance with the changing seasons. It could 26 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: have had religious value as well. The arcs, stars, and 27 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: other ornaments were made of gold, and the disc itself 28 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: is corroded bronze, hence its blue green color. Following its discovery, 29 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: the Nebrous guide discs spent three years on the black 30 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: market until authorities seized the relic in a two thousand 31 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: two sting operation. Short thereafter, in two thousand five, Regensburg 32 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: University archaeologist Peter Schauer claimed the disc was a modern forgery. 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: His arguments have been dismissed. The corrosion and other lines 34 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: of evidence are testimony to the objects advanced age. Still, 35 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: the nature of its recovery raises questions. The two men 36 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: who found the Sky Disc claimed they unearthed it at 37 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: a site near Nebra, Germany, about a hundred and ten 38 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: miles or a hundred eighty kilometers southwest of Berlin. Since 39 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: the disc was considered property of the state, they had 40 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: no legal right to dig it up or to attempt 41 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: to sell it, but these guys did both, and in 42 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: two thousand five they were found guilty of illegal excavation. 43 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: Before the sting, the looters tried to sell the disc 44 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: as part of a collection that also included two axes, 45 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: to swords and other artifacts allegedly taken from the same location. 46 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: Right now, the disc is on display at the State 47 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: Museum of Prehistory in Hell, Germany. According to the locally 48 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 1: based State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeologies 49 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: official website, it cannot be directly dated using radiometric dating techniques, 50 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: yet all is not lost. Radiocarbon dating shows that the 51 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: bark on one of those associated sword hilts is about 52 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: three thousand, six hundred years old. If the sky disc 53 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: was indeed made at the same time more or less, 54 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: then it's definitely a Bronze Age treasure. However, a controversial 55 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: paper released in September proposes that the discs place of 56 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,079 Speaker 1: origin may not have been reported accurately. The authors also 57 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: suspect it could be a thousand years younger than previously thought, 58 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: making it an iron Age relic. But the director of 59 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: the Hell State Museum isn't sold. Neither is Deputy State 60 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: Archaeologist Alfred Reichenberger, who wrote a press release questioning paper 61 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: in which he said the colleagues not only ignore the 62 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: abundance of published research results in recent years, their various 63 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: arguments are also easily refuted looters, a court case and 64 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: rejected fakery charges. After everything it's been through just in 65 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: the past twenty one years or so, one wonders what 66 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: the future has in store for this mysterious nebra Sky 67 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: disc Today's episode was written by Mark Mancini and produced 68 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of 69 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain 70 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts my 71 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 72 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.