The Nebra Sky Disc FOUND
Abstract
The world heritage object Nebra Sky Disc is one of the best investigated archaeological objects. The origin of the raw materials it is made of is well known. However, its manufacturing process was not completely clear. Investigations were made in order to clarify the steps of manufacturing from the initial casting to the finished disc using the latest metallographic techniques. Therefore, a small piece from the outer part of the disc was investigated and compared with a replica. Both were prepared regarding the metallographic procedure. Microstructural analysis was made by optical microscopy on a colour etched surface, EDS and electron backscatter diffraction. For the investigation of mechanical properties microhardness measurements were made. It could be found that the Nebra Sky Disc was manufactured from a flat cast followed by hot forging process. During the forging process the disc was heated and forged for approximately 10 times.
Introduction
The Nebra Sky Disk is the oldest precise depiction of the heavens in human history (Fig. 1). It is inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register and is one of the most thoroughly studied archaeological objects in the world, because its cosmological iconography offers a unique insight into the mind set of Early Bronze Age people. It was discovered and looted by unlicensed metal detectorists on the summit of the Mittelberg hill near the town of Nebra, Saxony-Anhalt, in central Germany in 19991,2. The disc was included in a hoard which included two superbly crafted swords, two flanged axes, two spiral bracelets and a chisel. The associated finds date the deposition of the Sky Disc to the end of the central European Early Bronze Age, ca. 1600 BC. However, it is highly likely that the Sky Disc itself had been manufactured some 100 to 200 years earlier. From technical observations, as well as the analysis of the gold inlays, a five-phase reconstruction of the development of the imagery on the disc seems to be the likeliest sequence for the disc’s development. In the earliest version, an elaborately encoded image reflects sophisticated astronomical knowledge. In subsequent stages this was forgotten and replaced by traditional knowledge, which was focused on the interaction of the heavenly bodies and the horizon; and finally, this reduced knowledge gave way to mythology2,3,4. Besides the changes to the motifs, the origins of the raw materials it was made from, copper, tin and gold, are also well understood5,6,7,8.
The Nebra Sky Disc with the marked sample extraction point ((c) Reproduced with permission by State Office for Heritage management and Archaeology, Saxony-Anhalt—State Museum of Prehistory, photo: J. Lipták, Munich).
Read More Story Soucre
Share More Story
.JPG)
%20Madonna.JPG)
.JPG)
%20Shakira.JPG)
%20Messi%20and%20Lamine%20Yamal.JPG)
%20Messi%20and%20Lamine%20Yamal.JPG)
%20Messi.JPG)
%20Refs.JPG)
.JPG)
%20Yamal.JPG)
%20Ferran%20Torres.JPG)
%20Team%20Spain.JPG)
