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NEBRA SKY DISC by Neil L Thomas, 05/01/2005
Germany
In 1999, grave robbers ransacked a Bronze Age tomb near the village of Nebra in southern Germany. They found a bronze disc, clearly of great anthropological and archaeological value. Slightly damaged, the Disc was eventually recovered by Dr Harald Meller of the Berlin Museum. The 32 centimetres diameter bronze disc has portrayals of the Sun, Moon and a number of stars with three arcs close to its perimeter edge, all in gold. Based upon other artefacts found at the site, a date of about 1600 BC has been attributed to the find.
Concerning the orientation of the round artefact, it was initially proposed the Sun was left of the Moon. That led to the idea the lower crescent represented a ‘boat’. In my view the ‘boat’ interpretation, a sea-going vessel conveying the heavenly bodies from east to west, was unfounded. The archaeological site is far from the sea-coast or other large body of water.
I consider the artefact should be viewed with the crescent Moon to the left of the Sun disc. On that basis, with one gold arc now above the other celestial features, it may be considered a representation of the firmament, the overarching mythical bowl forming the sky. On that basis, there are thirty-three celestial items; Firmament, Sun and Moon, a cluster of seven stars representing the Pleiades and twenty-three single stars placed in more or less random positions. The number thirty-three has been cited for millennia to adjectivally and symbolically declare a person or object sacred or heavenly, the home of the gods. An affirmation of that nature seems most appropriate for the Disc.
To the left and right of the Disc, two arcs formed in gold occupy parts of the perimeter. The right arc subtends an angle close to 820, the azimuth change between midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunrise at latitude 51.50 north, that of Nebra village. Left of the Disc, the [reinstated] gold arc also subtends 820, the summer and winter solstice sunset directions.
Observe how the crossed sunrise and sunset lines intersect at the centre of the Disc, a point on the edge of the gold Sun disc. An observer saw the first rays of dawn light as the extreme edge of the Sun peeped above the horizon. At sunset in a similar way, the last glimpse of the Sun’s disc was observed at the end of the day. I consider the central crossed lines position, on the edge of Sun disc and on the west-east centreline, reflect the midsummer and midwinter solstice events.
The Base Design & Manufacture
Place yourself in the mind of the artisan who was commissioned to make the Sky Disc. The first question requiring an answer is “How big should the Disc be?” Elsewhere I have shown the so-called ‘Celtic Foot’, equal to 332 millimetres, was widely used in north and west Europe and Britain since the third millennium BC. It is reasonable to assume the artisan adopted that linear value as the diameter of a wooden base upon which the bronze disc was intended to be mounted. The Disc has approximately forty small holes close to its edge, indicating the use of nails or rivets to secure the thin bronze disc to a strong wooden base. The reported diameter of the Sky Disc is 320 millimetres. Allowing a margin of 5 to 6 mm to secure the disc using nails or rivets, the wooden base outside diameter would have been close to one Celtic foot.
The bronze Disc and the application of a gold layer chosen for the selected design shows the skilful qualities of workmanship and technical achievement attained by the Bronze Age smith.
Britain
Two parallelogram shaped gold artefacts, the Bush Barrow Plate and the Clandon Barrow Plate, have been recovered in southern England. Found near Stonehenge and dated close to 1900 BC, the Bush Plate has a long axis length of 18 centimetres. The Clandon Plate originated near Maiden Castle, the long axis measures 15 centimetres. The acute angle of 800 at the ends of both Plates longitudinal axes signifies the difference between solsticial sunrise and sunset bearings at latitude 510 north.
Each gold plate is associated with an ancient monument. Respectively Stonehenge c. 2300 BC and Mount Pleasant c. 2400 BC, both buildings were able to tally a 365 day Sun calendar. Sixteen months a year, every month comprised four weeks each of five days plus two or three added intercalatial days, months of 22 or 23 days. Eight annual events, the four solstice and equinox with four festival days, marked the year.
From Knowth and Newgrange in Ireland about 3500 BC, to Stonehenge in the third millennium BC and continental Europe about 1600 BC, complementary evidence is perceived. The sacred symbolism attributed to thirty-three, the count of the heavenly bodies portrayed on the Disc, is an added attribute.
The Nebra Sky Disc affirms the spread of similar archaeoastronomical beliefs, from Ireland and Britain in the west to central Europe in the millennia BC.
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