An archaeological crime
The motif of this cult stone originates from a 3,600 year old bronze disc from Sachsen-Anhalt in Germany.
In 1999, two treasure hunters used a metal detector to search for prehistoric findings near the city of Nebra by Halle. The treasure hunters quickly found a bronze disc with a diameter of 32 cm (12 inches), two bronze swords with gold bands, a chisel, two axes and a number of bronze rings.
The entire finding was sold for DM 30,000 to a somewhat sinister antique dealer who immediately realised that the bronze disc was worth a lot of money. He therefore contacted two German museums that both declined his offer. Later on, a collector paid DM 200,000 for the disc.
In 2001, a museum in Berlin received pictures of the Sky Disc and an offer to buy the entire finding for DM 1m. The museum in Halle was informed and the police was contacted. Following six months’ of investigation, the holder of the bronze finding was identified.
Dr. Meller from the museum in Halle agreed to act as an interested buyer and in this way enable the police to arrest the parties involved red handed. Later on, two treasure hunters were identified and they pointed out the exact place of the findings.
The Sky Disc from Nebra by Halle
The Sky Disc is a unique finding. It is considered the oldest European rendering of a cosmos; a mythological conception of the sun and of other celestial bodies’ passage around the day and the seasons. It is the general perception that the disc was used as some kind of astrological calendar for the calculation of summer and winter solstice.
The Sky Disc, as it looks today, is decorated with a number of gold-leaf appliqués, a circle-round sun or full moon, a new moon in the shape of parenthesis, a bowlike ship, 30 small dots of which seven are grouped together and also two horizon arches that approach the edge of the disc.
The horizon sections each cover 82 degrees of the disc which is equivalent to the annual time swing between sunrise and sunset at midsummer and midwinter.
The seven clustered dots are presumed to be the constellation of the Pleiades. The location of the Pleiades between the full moon and the seal of the moon represents two dates where the Pleiades are visible of the western sky, on 10 March and on 17 October, which are both dates of commencement for sowing and harvest respectively.
The golden ship suggests the notion of the Bronze Age that the sun, the moon and the stars are sailed across the sky and ensures the course of the day. Investigations at the site of the finding have shown that the Sky Disc has been buried as a gift to the gods.
Skalk, Dec. 2003, www.nationalmuseet.dk, Jyllands Posten, April 2005, Nationalmuseet Nyt, no. 107.
The motif of this cult stone originates from a 3,600 year old bronze disc from Sachsen-Anhalt in Germany.
In 1999, two treasure hunters used a metal detector to search for prehistoric findings near the city of Nebra by Halle. The treasure hunters quickly found a bronze disc with a diameter of 32 cm (12 inches), two bronze swords with gold bands, a chisel, two axes and a number of bronze rings.
The entire finding was sold for DM 30,000 to a somewhat sinister antique dealer who immediately realised that the bronze disc was worth a lot of money. He therefore contacted two German museums that both declined his offer. Later on, a collector paid DM 200,000 for the disc.
In 2001, a museum in Berlin received pictures of the Sky Disc and an offer to buy the entire finding for DM 1m. The museum in Halle was informed and the police was contacted. Following six months’ of investigation, the holder of the bronze finding was identified.
Dr. Meller from the museum in Halle agreed to act as an interested buyer and in this way enable the police to arrest the parties involved red handed. Later on, two treasure hunters were identified and they pointed out the exact place of the findings.
The Sky Disc from Nebra by Halle
The Sky Disc is a unique finding. It is considered the oldest European rendering of a cosmos; a mythological conception of the sun and of other celestial bodies’ passage around the day and the seasons. It is the general perception that the disc was used as some kind of astrological calendar for the calculation of summer and winter solstice.
The Sky Disc, as it looks today, is decorated with a number of gold-leaf appliqués, a circle-round sun or full moon, a new moon in the shape of parenthesis, a bowlike ship, 30 small dots of which seven are grouped together and also two horizon arches that approach the edge of the disc.
The horizon sections each cover 82 degrees of the disc which is equivalent to the annual time swing between sunrise and sunset at midsummer and midwinter.
The seven clustered dots are presumed to be the constellation of the Pleiades. The location of the Pleiades between the full moon and the seal of the moon represents two dates where the Pleiades are visible of the western sky, on 10 March and on 17 October, which are both dates of commencement for sowing and harvest respectively.
The golden ship suggests the notion of the Bronze Age that the sun, the moon and the stars are sailed across the sky and ensures the course of the day. Investigations at the site of the finding have shown that the Sky Disc has been buried as a gift to the gods.
Skalk, Dec. 2003, www.nationalmuseet.dk, Jyllands Posten, April 2005, Nationalmuseet Nyt, no. 107.
