M&D related: artifact of ancient European astronomy

[Doug Millison]

ournalists last week received their first opportunity
to inspect the site where an Early Bronze Age disc
with gold foil ornaments - perhaps the oldest
cosmological picture ever found - was abruptly ripped
from the earth three years ago by local looters. 
The archaeological sensation was unearthed in a forest
near the village of Nebra in the eastern German state
of Saxony-Anhalt. The site was located after one of a
band of shady treasure hunters confessed where the
artifacts had been unearthed. Seven persons are
currently involved in a court case surrounding the
illegal excavation and selling of treasures that
belong to the eastern state.
"The disc is around 30 centimeters in diameter and
weighs approximately 2 kilograms. It is thought to be
around 3,600 years old. On the face of the disc is a
strikingly familiar representation in gold of
the  moon's phases, the stars and the constellation of
the Pleiades along with a curved object which could be
the depiction of a celestial bark of the sun, such as
that which figured prominently in Egypt's ritual art.
Equipped with a metal detector and basic household
tools, the two local looters stumbled upon one of the
greatest archaeological finds this century. The disc
shows that northern Europeans, probably Celts, made a
science of astronomy at roughly the same time as the
Stonehenge astronomical cult site was built in
Britain."


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/docmain.asp?rub=%7BB1311FFE-FBFB-11D2-B228-00105A9CAF88%7D&doc=%7BA281FBE3-A50C-4FB2-82A2-501A529C67B0%7D

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