Why the Nebra Sky Disc Dates to the Early Bronze Age. An Overview of the Interdisciplinary Results

Pernicka, Ernst; Adam, Jörg; Borg, Gregor; Brügmann, Gerhard; Bunnefeld, Jan‐Heinrich; Kainz, Wolfgang; Klamm, Mechthild; Koiki, Thomas; Meller, Harald; Schwarz, R.; Stöllner, Thomas; Wunderlich, Christian‐Heinrich; Reichenberger, Alfred

doi:10.1553/archaeologia104s89

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Thirdly, the result indicates that the swords, chisel and axe belong to one assemblage of objects that were most likely produced in a single workshop in close succession. This important result is a considerable contribution to the current discussion as to whether the Nebra finds can be considered an ensemble or not, because their find context is still being disputed (Gebhard & Krause, 2020; Pernicka et al, 2020). With the current data, the doubts can be largely dispelled.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Identifying mixtures of metals by multi‐isotope analysis: Disentangling the relationships of the Early Bronze Age swords of the Apa–Hajdúsámson type and associated objects

et al. 2021

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This pilot study addresses the analytical characterisation of 26 well‐known bronze objects of the Early and Middle Bronze Age of Central and Northern Europe. Besides swords and axes of the hoards from Apa, Téglás and Hajdúsámson, the investigation includes the famous Sky Disc and its accompanying finds from the Nebra hoard and several full‐hilted swords from Period I in Denmark. In contrast to former publications, the isotopic systematics of lead, tin and copper are the focus of the present investigation. With a combined approach, we try to relate the typologically closely linked or otherwise related artefacts with chemical and isotopic proxies by identifying mixing scenarios. The results demonstrate that artefacts from different locations are most likely not directly linked, but mixing lines across isotope systems suggest a production of the items from common sources by mixing of bronze batches (e.g., bronze ingots), which were probably disseminated between 1600 and 1500 bce. This helps to correlate objects of different locations with each other and to draw conclusions upon typological and cultural connections. Isotopic and chemical correlations of objects within the individual hoards, on the other hand, allow reconstructions of metallurgical practices in single workshops, which, for example, implies recycling of metal scrap.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Identifying mixtures of metals by multi‐isotope analysis: Disentangling the relationships of the Early Bronze Age swords of the Apa–Hajdúsámson type and associated objects

et al. 2021

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“…If this interpretation is correct, the plain faces could be a representation of the Sun, while those covered with chisel marks of the night sky. Bronze Age representations of the night sky in the European Bronze Age are rare, and the Nebra disk from Germany is the most famous example (about 1600 BC ;Meller 2002;Schlosser 2002;Pásztor, Roslund 2007;Kristiansen 2010;Pásztor 2015;Pernicka et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric Stone Disks from Entrances and Cemeteries of North-Eastern Adriatic Hillforts

et al. 2022

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The paper presents a group of four, approximately 0.5m large, stone disks from entrances or cemeteries of two protohistoric hillforts of north-eastern Adriatic. The disks, having a sparse chronology with the exception of one dated to the Middle Bronze Age, show flat and plain surfaces or covered with sub-circular depressions. One disk shows two larger cup-marks at the centre of both faces. They are interpreted as ritual artefacts based on the association with sacred settlement locations and comparisons with similar coeval stones found mainly close to citadel entrances, burials and thresholds in the Aegean area and Anatolia.

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“…In north‐west Europe, the Saint‐Bélec slab appears to be contemporary with the Nebra skydisc found in central Germany (Meller 2010), although its chronology has been controversially challenged (Gebhard and Krause 2020; Pernicka et al . 2020). Buried about 1600 BC and attributed to the Únětice culture, the bronze disc ( c .30 cm in diameter) appears to show a map of the heavens with celestial bodies picked out in gold.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Early 3d‐map of a Territory? The Bronze Age Carved Slab From Saint‐bélec, Leuhan (Brittany, France)

Nicolas

Pailler

Stéphan³

et al. 2021

Oxford J Archaeology

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SummaryWhile early maps are known from all over the world, the key questions always involve: what exactly do they show? And what spatial extent do they cover? In this context, we recently used 3D‐modelling to re‐examine a carved stone slab datable to the Early Bronze Age (c.2150–1600 BC) that was found at Saint‐Bélec in Brittany. We show that the surface of the slab had been shaped in three dimensions to represent the relief of the surrounding landscape in which it was found, while several engraved motifs on it evoke contemporary structures known archaeologically. We argue that the Saint‐Bélec slab represents an area of c.545 km2 corresponding to the extent of a prehistoric political entity. The carving and subsequent burying of the slab can be linked to the postulated rise and fall of hierarchical societies and raises many wider questions about socio‐economic structures in temperate Europe at that time.

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Why the Nebra Sky Disc Dates to the Early Bronze Age. An Overview of the Interdisciplinary Results

Cited by 11 publications

References 3 publications

Identifying mixtures of metals by multi‐isotope analysis: Disentangling the relationships of the Early Bronze Age swords of the Apa–Hajdúsámson type and associated objects

Identifying mixtures of metals by multi‐isotope analysis: Disentangling the relationships of the Early Bronze Age swords of the Apa–Hajdúsámson type and associated objects

Prehistoric Stone Disks from Entrances and Cemeteries of North-Eastern Adriatic Hillforts

An Early 3d‐map of a Territory? The Bronze Age Carved Slab From Saint‐bélec, Leuhan (Brittany, France)

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