WEBVTT - Is the Nebra Sky Disk the Oldest Star Chart?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Boggi boom Here. At some point in ancient history, a

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<v Speaker 1>starry scene was immortalized on a disc of bronze. That

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<v Speaker 1>artifact is an enigma today, recovered by treasure hunters in

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<v Speaker 1>It's been named the Nebra Sky Disc, after the town

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<v Speaker 1>of Nebra, Germany, near the site where the disc was found.

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<v Speaker 1>Some experts say this object might be the oldest surviving

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<v Speaker 1>attempt to portray astronomical objects like stars in a realistic way,

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<v Speaker 1>but we're missing some important context. While the Nebrasky disc

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<v Speaker 1>is undoubtedly valuable, its age is open to debate. The

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<v Speaker 1>artifact measures about twelve inches or thirty centimes wide and

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<v Speaker 1>weighs about four and a half pounds or two kilos.

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<v Speaker 1>A series of about forty tiny holes were made along

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<v Speaker 1>the perimeter. The disc has a bluish green backdrop punctuated

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<v Speaker 1>by golden symbols. Special attention has been paid to seven

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<v Speaker 1>tightly packed dots on the disc. They most likely depict plaits,

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<v Speaker 1>a star cluster visible from both hemispheres. There's also a

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<v Speaker 1>large golden circle thought to represent the Sun or the Moon.

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<v Speaker 1>It faces a crescent shaped object that might be an

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<v Speaker 1>artist's take on an eclipse or a lunar phase. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>there are twenty five golden dots, a curved line towards

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<v Speaker 1>the bottom, and two long arcs hugging the sides of

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<v Speaker 1>the disk the ladder of oak horizons possible reference to

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<v Speaker 1>the solstices. Who knows. Perhaps the disc helped farmers time

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<v Speaker 1>their harvests in accordance with the changing seasons. It could

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<v Speaker 1>have had religious value as well. The arcs, stars, and

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<v Speaker 1>other ornaments were made of gold, and the disc itself

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<v Speaker 1>is corroded bronze, hence its blue green color. Following its discovery,

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<v Speaker 1>the Nebrous guide discs spent three years on the black

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<v Speaker 1>market until authorities seized the relic in a two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>two sting operation. Short thereafter, in two thousand five, Regensburg

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<v Speaker 1>University archaeologist Peter Schauer claimed the disc was a modern forgery.

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<v Speaker 1>His arguments have been dismissed. The corrosion and other lines

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<v Speaker 1>of evidence are testimony to the objects advanced age. Still,

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<v Speaker 1>the nature of its recovery raises questions. The two men

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<v Speaker 1>who found the Sky Disc claimed they unearthed it at

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<v Speaker 1>a site near Nebra, Germany, about a hundred and ten

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<v Speaker 1>miles or a hundred eighty kilometers southwest of Berlin. Since

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<v Speaker 1>the disc was considered property of the state, they had

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<v Speaker 1>no legal right to dig it up or to attempt

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<v Speaker 1>to sell it, but these guys did both, and in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand five they were found guilty of illegal excavation.

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<v Speaker 1>Before the sting, the looters tried to sell the disc

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<v Speaker 1>as part of a collection that also included two axes,

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<v Speaker 1>to swords and other artifacts allegedly taken from the same location.

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, the disc is on display at the State

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<v Speaker 1>Museum of Prehistory in Hell, Germany. According to the locally

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<v Speaker 1>based State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archaeologies

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<v Speaker 1>official website, it cannot be directly dated using radiometric dating techniques,

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<v Speaker 1>yet all is not lost. Radiocarbon dating shows that the

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<v Speaker 1>bark on one of those associated sword hilts is about

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<v Speaker 1>three thousand, six hundred years old. If the sky disc

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<v Speaker 1>was indeed made at the same time more or less,

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<v Speaker 1>then it's definitely a Bronze Age treasure. However, a controversial

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<v Speaker 1>paper released in September proposes that the discs place of

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<v Speaker 1>origin may not have been reported accurately. The authors also

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<v Speaker 1>suspect it could be a thousand years younger than previously thought,

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<v Speaker 1>making it an iron Age relic. But the director of

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<v Speaker 1>the Hell State Museum isn't sold. Neither is Deputy State

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<v Speaker 1>Archaeologist Alfred Reichenberger, who wrote a press release questioning paper

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<v Speaker 1>in which he said the colleagues not only ignore the

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<v Speaker 1>abundance of published research results in recent years, their various

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<v Speaker 1>arguments are also easily refuted looters, a court case and

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<v Speaker 1>rejected fakery charges. After everything it's been through just in

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<v Speaker 1>the past twenty one years or so, one wonders what

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<v Speaker 1>the future has in store for this mysterious nebra Sky

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<v Speaker 1>disc Today's episode was written by Mark Mancini and produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts my

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