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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This place radiates a magical energy to many. It is still unclear why people erected the structure some 4,500 years ago: Was it a temple, a coronation site or an observatory for the sun? Stonehenge continues to cast its spell, with tens of thousands of visitors making the pilgrimage to the site every year, especially for the winter solstice.

About 500 years before Stonehenge was even erected, people built the Ring of Brodgar on the Orkney Islands, around 3200 B.C. The site features a huge stone circle that is 104 meters in diameter. Today, 27 of the original 60 boulders are still standing. Did these ancient builders later export their knowledge to Stonehenge? And was this ring also used as an astrological facility? No one knows.

These megaliths were also placed on one of the Orkney Islands around 3100 B.C. Archaeologist Nick Card believes that this was "an important site" some 5,000 years ago. He and his team have been excavating sites on the islands for years, and have now reconstructed 20 houses that once stood there. Card believes that people did not live here permanently, but came to hold festivities together.

The Carnac stones are 7,000 years old and continue to fascinate people today. About 3,000 standing stones ranging from 0.5 to four meters in height have survived for centuries. It is said that even Caesar's legionaries were amazed by the structure that stretches out for four kilometers. Did they serve as a place of assembly? Or was this a place of pilgrimage? That remains a secret.

This complex near Kaseberga is often called "Sweden's Stonehenge." However, this constellation of stones is not actually a circle: 59 stone blocks are aligned here in the shape of a ship hull that is 67 meters long and 19 meters wide. Archaeologists assume that Ales Stenar served as an ancient burial place some 1,400 years ago. The site attracts about 700,000 visitors every year.

Near the Swedish village of Bohuslän, there are another 100 or so stone circles and graves that were first laid out during the Iron Age. From this burial ground, you get a broad view over the nearby North Sea. Researchers believe that the site was still in use as recently as the Middle Ages, as a meeting place.

These stone relics of an earlier culture were uncovered in the remote Katun Valley of Russia's Altai Mountains. Some of the rocks feature prehistoric engravings. Scientists suspect that this was a sacred place of worship, which — similarly to Stonehenge — was probably also used for astronomical purposes.

There are four stone circles in the middle of the forest near the German village of Boitin. According to a legend, a wedding took place here once upon a time. The party went a little out of hand, with the wedding guests treating their food without respect, throwing bread and sausages around in their merriment. The gods then turned them into rocks.

These six preserved megalithic tombs near Lüdelsen in Saxony-Anhalt date back to the Neolithic period. Together with about 50 other preserved megalithic tombs in the region, there are plans to build a 40 kilometer-long "Megalith Route Altmark" to attract tourists.

Residents of Chile's Easter Island, which is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, call these statues Moai — which translates as "stone figure." Researchers date the 900 monuments back to between the years 1250 and 1500, and many assume that they represented chiefs or ancestors, who were believed to act as a link between this world and the next.