News: Earliest Star Chart found in Germany(@1400BC)

This may be of interest to list members. Note that bronze swords also found
at the site were made with a technique "unique to Mycenaean and Anatolian
swords," suggesting early contact and influence from the Aegean. One would
wonder what language was being spoken in eastern Germany at this point in
time.
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First Concrete Representation of Stars Found in Germany
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www.itechnology.co.za
September 25 2002 at 07:44PM

Nebra, Germany - Archaeologists offered a first glimpse on Wednesday of a
lost culture's holy site atop a German peak, and confirmed it as the source
of the world's oldest map of the heavens.

The exact location has been kept secret for weeks, amid fears that
treasure-seekers would move in and disturb Bronze Age remains.

The site is atop the Mittelberg, a 252m hill in the Ziegelroda Forest, 180km
south-west of Berlin.

Adding a spooky touch is the discovery that, seen from the Mittelberg, the sun
sets every June 22 behind the Brocken, the highest mountain in northern
Germany. The Brocken is in a direct line of sight on a clear day, 85km to the
north-west.

'The oldest concrete representation of the stars in the world'The Brocken is
fabled in northern European mythology as the place where witches gather for a
coven every April 30.

Scientists are still scratching their heads at the full meaning of a 32cm
bronze-and-gold disc found by treasure hunters on the Mittelberg in 1999. The
map on its face shows the Brocken as well as 32 stars including the Pleiades.

Experts in pre-history can only guess at the identity of the people who made
the "Nebra Disc" 3600 years ago.

"This disc, with the oldest concrete representation of the stars in the
world, was placed in a pit in the middle of a ringwall during the early
Bronze Age," Harald Meller, the chied archaeologist in the state of
Saxony-Anhalt, said on Wednesday.

"We still don't know if it was a princely grave or a treasure store for holy
objects."

On Wednesday reporters were shown a clearing where the archaeological dig had
gone down about half a metre into the soil, leaving what appeared to be loose
stone walls standing. The site was once surrounded by wooden palisades and a
complex of defensive ditches.

Wolfhard Schlosser, an expert in ancient astronomy at the University of the
Ruhr, added, "The ringwall was built in such a way that the sun seemed to
disappear every equinox behind the Brocken."

Experts believe the map and site formed an observatory, which was used to set
the calendar for planting and harvesting crops.

The nearby forest contains 1000 barrows or princely graves from the period,
but little else is known about the lost people, who are not mentioned in
ancient Greek or other Mediterranean sources. [1000 princely graves!!! They
sure had a lot of princes!!! - Steve]

Meller said two bronze swords found at the site had been made with a
technique unique to Mycenaean and Anatolian swords, and had a similar shape
to arms found in modern Romania and Hungary.....