The Bronze Age astronomical clock will move to London temporarily as part of an exhibition highlighting recent archaeological discoveries. Researchers uncovered the disc's original purpose in 2006.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Schmidt
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The 3,600-year-old Nebra Sky Disc is taking a trip to London in 2021.
The State Museum of Prehistory in Halle in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt will loan out the archaeological wonder to the British Museum in London for several months, the two museums agreed on Monday.
The Nebra Sky Disc dates back to the Bronze Age and is thought to be the world's oldest obvious depiction of the cosmos.
The loan will take place as part of a special exhibit, "The Nebra Sky Disc — New Horizons," highlighting discoveries made in the last 20 years. The exhibit will begin in Halle in November this year and feature artifacts from Saxony-Anhalt as well as objects on loan from the British Museum and other museums. It will move to London for its final phase in 2021.
The Nebra Sky Disc was discovered in 1999 by two convicted looters while treasure hunting in Saxony-Anhalt. It then changed hands several times before the authorities seized it and other Bronze Age objects in a raid in Switzerland in 2002. The disc has lived at the museum in Halle since 2008.
After years of speculation as to the disc's purpose, in 2006 research revealed evidence that suggests the disc was an astronomical clock used to harmonize the solar and lunar calendars.
A lunar year is 11 days shorter than a solar year. The disc would have helped determine when a 13th month should be added to the lunar calendar to keep it in line with the seasons.
13 recent archaeological finds in Germany
The artifacts reveal how Germany was at the center of major developments on the European continent.
Image: Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren/J. Wiedmann
A 'forged' sky
The Nebra sky disc was seen as a sensational archaeological find, believed to feature the world's oldest known depiction of a cosmic phenomenon. It was found by treasure-hunters with a metal detector in Saxony-Anhalt in 1999. First estimated to be 3,600 years old, German researchers are now questioning that dating.
Image: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt/J. Lipták
The most ancient depiction of a human being
The Venus of Hohle Fels was discovered in 2008 in a cave in southwestern Germany. The nearly six-centimeter ivory figurine is believed to have been worn as an amulet. It is dated to between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, making it the oldest known depiction of a human being in prehistoric art.
Image: Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren/J. Wiedmann
A mighty hat
Three of the world's four known Golden Hats from the Bronze Age (1000 BC) were shown at a 2019 exhibition at Berlin's Gropius Bau museum. They served as a symbol for deities and priests in a sun cult that was practiced in Central Europe during that period. Made of thin gold leaf, the hats are presumed to have covered a similarly-shaped headdress made of organic material.
Image: Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin/C. Plamp
The treasures of Cologne's wharf area
Archaeologists uncovered thousands of finds — including these oil lamps from the first century A.D. — in the mud on the site of the former Roman port in Cologne. At the time, the newly established Roman settlement was an important trade center, where one could easily find goods from North Africa, Pompeii or Aquitaine. A 1,900-year-old Roman boat was also discovered in Cologne in 2007.
Image: Römisch-Germanisches Museum der Stadt Köln; Foto: Axel Thünker, DGPh
The secrets of a Celtic princess
At the end of 2010, a complete early Celtic tomb of a noblewoman was retrieved from the earth near the southern German town of Herbertingen. It contained bronze and gold jewelry that were imported from afar. The find provided further evidence that trade with the rest of Europe was already strong by the sixth century BC.
Image: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Stuttgart/Y. Mühleis
Roman luxury in the grave
A particular Roman tomb was discovered in the town of Haltern, in North Rhine-Westphalia. It contained, along with the remains of a man, an intricate bone-carved kline, which is a bed for the dead. The kline was transported from Italy to Germany to guarantee Roman luxury even after death. The 1,900-year-old deathbed was reconstructed from thousands of fragments.
Image: LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen/S. Brentführer
The 'Swiss knife' of the Stone Age
The hand axe, the longest-used tool in human history, was already in circulation around two million years ago in Africa. The hand axes found in Eurasia were much younger however, dated back to 600,000 years ago. The all-round tool was likely to have different functions such as chopping, cutting, scraping, hitting and even throwing. This piece of flint stone is at most 35,000 years old.
Image: Archäologisches Museum Hamburg
Rider on the firestorm
This bronze rider was among the 11 sculptures unearthed in Berlin's historical center in 2010, a discovery known as the Berlin Sculpture Find. The 1933-34 sculpture by Fritz Wrampe, listed as "degenerate art" by the Nazis, was believed irretrievably lost. The works removed from museums were however stored by the Nazis in a depot. The rider was deformed by the heat of WWII bombings on Berlin.
Image: Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Berlin/A. Kleuker
Europe's oldest battlefield
At the end of the 1990s, thousands of human bones and weapons were unearthed along the Tollense River in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It turned out to be the oldest archaeologically verifiable battlefield in Europe discovered to date. Though it remains unclear where they were all from, the warriors traveled great distances to join the battle. Several of the 3,300-year-old artifacts are shown in Berlin.
Image: Landesamt für Kultur und Denkmalpflege Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
An magician's laboratory
At the end of 2012, pots, cups, retorts and distillation stills — an entire laboratory — were found in Wittenberg, the city of Renaissance alchemist Dr. Faustus. The artifacts were however broken into 10,000 pieces. Pieced back together, they revealed the oldest known laboratory in Europe, dating back to 1520-1540.
Image: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt/J. Lipták
An ancient protective decoration
An incredible find was discovered near Lake Constance in southern Germany: a Neolithic decoration on clay plaster. It shows that humans were already heavily decorating their houses by 4000 BC. The segment that was displayed in Berlin is believed to be a complex depiction of ancestors or deities that were to protect the house.
Image: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hemmenhofen/M. Erne
Christ in the grave
Pilgrim badges were worn in the Middle Ages by Roman Catholics as souvenirs of their pilgrimage, and some of them took their badge with them to the grave. This lead alloy pilgrim badge from the 13th-14th century was found in Harburg (today part of Hamburg). It shows Christ riding on a donkey.
Image: Archäologisches Museum
Hamburg
900 grams of hacksilver
In 2005, a hiker in Upper Lusatia happened to find an important trove of silver, known as the Cortnitz hoard. Most of the coins and silver jewelry pieces from the 11th century were hacked. The fragments came from Bohemia and Moravia, but also from Bulgaria, Scandinavia and even Baghdad. Hacked fragments of silver served as currency before official coinage was established.
Image: Landesamt für Archäologie Sachsen/U. Wohmann