Decoding the Multiple Lives of the Nebra Sky Disc
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Source: Dig Labs Project
Who created this object? What astronomical knowledge does it encode? How was it used, why was it altered, and what does its final burial reveal?
Note to reader:
We hope you find this article useful—it’s an ongoing Observatory research project that will be updated.
If you have expertise or insight on the topic that you think could be useful, please send us a note.
We hope you find this article useful—it’s an ongoing Observatory research project that will be updated.
If you have expertise or insight on the topic that you think could be useful, please send us a note.
Note to reader:
We hope you find this article useful—it’s an ongoing Observatory research project that will be updated.
If you have expertise or insight on the topic that you think could be useful, please send us a note.
We hope you find this article useful—it’s an ongoing Observatory research project that will be updated.
If you have expertise or insight on the topic that you think could be useful, please send us a note.
“Decoding the Multiple Lives of the Nebra Sky Disc” by Dig Labs Contributors is licensed by the Observatory under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
For permissions requests beyond the scope of this license, please see Observatory.wiki’s Reuse and Reprint Rights guidance.
Introduction
In 1800 BC, a bronze disc was decorated with gold to create a mysterious image of the heavens unlike anything else from the ancient world. Scholars call it the earliest known depiction of the cosmos in the world. But who created this object? What astronomical knowledge does it encode? How was it used, why was it altered, and what does its final burial reveal about a culture in crisis? The object was part of the rise of a new religion and the collapse of a powerful society.