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Context

• The British Museum in London will display an ancient object called the Nebra Sky Disc, which is thought to be the world’s oldest concrete depiction of stars.

About

• About 3,600 years ago, the disc was ritually buried along with two swords, axes, two spiral arm-rings and one bronze chisel near Nebra in Germany. The burial of these objects is thought to be made as a dedication to gods.
• While the exact purpose of the disc cannot be determined, hypotheses about its existence have imagined it as an astronomical clock, a work of art and a religious symbol.
• The bronze disc, which depicts the world’s oldest representation of “specific astronomical phenomenon” had five phases over its history.
• In the first phase, the disc illustrated the night sky with 32 gold stars, including the Pleiades, a hold orb representing the sun or a full moon and a crescent moon.
• This illustration served as a reminder of when it was necessary to synchronise the lunar and solar years by inserting a leap month.
• The knowledge required to create the object was “entirely local” and was drawn from observing the heavens from atop the Mittelberg mountain.

Note: The Mittelberg is an 803.6 m high mountain located in the Thuringian Highland, Germany.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/nebra-sky-disc-map-of-stars-british-museum-7579612/

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