The Nebra Sky Disc is a 3,600-year-old bronze disc which, according to UNESCO, features “the oldest concrete depiction of cosmic phenomena worldwide.” The disc is such an extraordinary piece that it was initially believed to be an archaeological forgery. However, detailed scientific analysis revealed that it is indeed authentic and the precious artefact is now included in UNESCO’s ‘Memory of the World’ register, an international initiative launched to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity, and is being held in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle. The Nebra Sky Disc was discovered in 1999 by two amateur treasure hunters illegally using a metal detector in Ziegelroda Forest, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It had been ritually buried in a prehistoric enclosure atop a hill (the Mittelberg), along with two precious swords, two axes, two spiral arm-rings and one bronze chisel. The enclosure is oriented in such a way that the sun seems to set every solstice behind the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz Mountains, some 80 km to the north-west. The surrounding area is known to have been settled since the Neolithic, and Ziegelroda Forest is said to contain around 1,000 barrows.
The swords found with the disc. Photo source: Wikipedia