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A new analysis of the Nebra Sky Disc — a 3,800 - class - old artifact that may be the oldest know theatrical of the sky — undermines claims that it is a more late counterfeit . The report shows the 12 - inch ( 30 centimeter ) wide bronze phonograph record was made with multiple cycles of heating and hammering that a modern counterfeiter would not have imitated , agree to an author .
The Nebra Sky Disc made headlines in 1999 when it was unearthed by metal detectorists in a field near the town of Nebra in key Germany . But the reliable place of origin of the object has been disputed .
The new study shows that the Nebra Sky Disk was made with an elaborate “hot forging” process — a result that undermines claims it could be a forgery.
To investigate how the saucer was made , the authors of the new field constructed a replica magnetic disk that was repeatedly heated during its industry . They then compared the reproduction with the original using metallography — technique that utilise microscopes to reveal the forcible social structure and components of alloy and alloys .
Study co - authorChristian - Heinrich Wunderlichtold Live Science that most bull smithing was carried out by hammer " cold " or unwarmed metal into form . But the bodily structure of copper color quartz glass in the bronze of the Nebra Sky Disc indicated that it was made with at least 10 cycles of a " hot forging " outgrowth that heated it to more than 1,290 degrees Fahrenheit ( 700 degrees Anders Celsius ) between hammer , he said .
The results show " how high the art of metalwork was already developed in the other Bronze Age , " study co - author and Saxony - Anhalt state archaeologistHarald Mellersaid in a translatedstatement .
The study compared the structure of copper crystals in the bronze of the original disk with those in modern replica made by coppersmith Herbert Bauer, from the Saxony-Anhalt town of Halle.
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Wunderlich narrate Live Science that the complicated manufacturing process take exception claims that the sky platter could be a modern fake , because it was passing improbable that forgers would have gone to such lengths .
Disputed disc
In addition , the Modern metallurgical analytic thinking showed that the copper alloy used in disc probably originated in a specific former Bronze Age mine in Austria that no longer operated in late periods , the squad cover in the study , published Nov. 21 in the journalScientific Reports .
" It can not be very much younger because the composition of the metal is very typical for bronze mined in the Austrian Alps , " Wunderlich allege .
After the Nebra Sky Disc ’s discovery , it was hailed as one of the most arresting archaeological artifact ever receive , and it is now on show at theSaxony - Anhalt State Museum of Prehistory .
Some experts , however , guess the Nebra Sky Disc was too good to be true .
Arecent challengeclaimed the alloy detectorists had not first found it at the Nebra land site at all , but elsewhere ; and that they had reburied the platter with other artifact so the intact hoard could be sell to a inglorious - food market collector . That , in round , indicate the disc may be up to 1,000 years youthful than antecedently reckon , the bailiwick said .
But Wunderlich said the Revelation of Saint John the Divine of the extraction of the pig admixture in the saucer throw doubtfulness on ideas that it could be much unseasoned than 3,800 age old .
Precious metals
The sky disc is mostly made from bronze , but gold figure that may interpret the sun , moon and star have been hammered into its surface — a metalworking technique recognize as " damascene "
Damascening is cite for the Syrian city of Damascus , where many smiths particularise in this type of metalwork — especially for swords — during the Middle Ages .
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According to theEuropean Space Agency , one pigeonholing of seven " asterisk " on the sky platter may depict the Pleiades hotshot cluster ( also called the"Seven Sisters " ) and was sometimes used to mark the forward motion of the class .
The sky platter once had two opposing arcs along its edge , although only one remains ; and archaeologists have suggested these may depict the horizon .
Another discharge near the bound of the disc may have represented a boat — possibly a " Dominicus boat " like the " solar bark " in the ancient Egyptian faith — or a sickle , which may indicate that the platter referred to farming .
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