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July 4th, 1999.
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Two men of dubious character were searching
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in a German forest with a metal detector.
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Yes.
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They were trying to earn some pocket money
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by selling valuables buried
here in World War II,
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but they also found something incredible.
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Hey! There is something here.
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Come on. Hurry up!
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Where?
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Here, here, here!
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Okay. Okay.
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Dig. Go.
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Wow, wow, wow.
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Hey, look this.
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I don't know.
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What is this, man?
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I don't know.
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Don't broke it, okay? Here.
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More, more, more, please.
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They sluiced off the mud with water,
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revealing a metallic
disc the likes of which
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had never been seen before.
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This is a photo of the disc
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taken immediately after its discovery.
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Its diameter was 30 centimeters
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and it weighed about two kilograms.
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It was made of bronze, a
copper and tin alloy,
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with beautiful gold emblems
representing the moon
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and stars.
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It described the night sky.
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The disc, found by chance
and excavated illegally
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now entered upon a shadowy journey.
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Changing hands repeatedly
on the black market,
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it disappeared from public view.
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But rumors of such a unique treasure
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were bound to spread.
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Eventually, an archaeologist
appeared on the scene
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determined to recover it.
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The Nebra sky disc,
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as the object came to be called,
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was shrouded in mystery.
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It gave rise to one riddle after another.
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How old was it?
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Research by archaeologists determined
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that it dated back three
and a half millennia.
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Next was the question
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whether the images of the moon and stars
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reflected real astronomical knowledge.
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This appeared to be the world's
oldest astronomical disc.
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A third mystery astonishing archaeologists
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was the very existence
of such a sophisticated
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prehistoric European culture.
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The many riddles posed
by the Nebra sky disc
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have attracted the passionate attentions
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of astronomers, archaeologists,
and historians.
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It is the world's oldest sky map
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and it encodes a message
of vital importance.
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The Nebra sky disc was liberated
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from the clutches of black marketeers
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thanks largely to the
dedication of this man,
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archaeologist Harald Meller.
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Two years after its initial discovery,
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the mysterious bronze disc resurfaced.
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It came to Meller's attention
when an acquaintance,
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the director of a museum in Berlin,
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was presented with a certain photograph.
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If you display it in your museum,
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you will certainly have a lot of guests.
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The visitor gave his name simply as Achim.
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You may purchase it at one million marks.
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The problem is not the price,
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it's where you obtained it.
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I found it by accident on the mountain.
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In Saxony-Anhalt.
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Don't you know excavation
is prohibited over there?
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The remains underground
belong to the German nation.
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A few days later,
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Meller was summoned by the museum director.
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Have a seat.
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Okay, thanks.
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He was shown the photo of the disc.
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He left in a haste, leaving this picture,
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and he has never been back anymore.
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From that day onward,
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Meller searched for the bronze disc,
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but to no avail.
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Until one day...
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Hello? Meller speaking.
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I received a picture of the bronze disc
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from the publisher of a
journal titled "Focus."
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They asked me to verify the
authenticity of the disc.
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I wonder if it is the
disc you are looking for.
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The call was from a fellow researcher.
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Hello? Is that the police?
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Yes, I've got some information
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about that stolen bronze disc.
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A fortnight later,
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Meller was able to meet with the person
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who had the disc.
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Miss Hildegard?
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Hi.
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I'm Harald Meller.
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I'm an archaeologist.
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I'm glad to meet you.
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Nice to meet you.
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I had an expert verify the authenticity
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of the disc.
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However, I was surprised to learn
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that your friend wished to purchase it.
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She gave her name as Hildegard.
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She was an art collector, she said.
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I would like to research the disc.
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Could you kindly sell it to me?
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Yeah, no problem.
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But, because you're buying it for science,
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I'll let you have it for 700,00 marks.
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Okay, could you let me look at it?
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I can't show it to you here.
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But please come to Basel, Switzerland
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and I'll exchange the
disc for 700,000 marks.
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Located at the Swiss borders
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with both France and Germany,
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Basel provided easy access and easy escape,
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making it attractive to black marketeers.
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When the German police
requested assistance,
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Basel prosecutors decided to use Meller
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in a sting operation to send a message
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to all would-be black marketeers.
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Detective Peter Gill was in charge.
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Meller got word from the sellers
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that they had taken a room at a hotel.
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When he arrived, he was
greeted by Hildegard
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and a man he hadn't met before.
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The man was Achim,
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who had initially shown
the picture of the disc
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to that museum director.
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00:10:42,801 --> 00:10:45,168
When Meller refused to go up to their room,
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they took him to a bar
in the hotel's basement.
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The location for the sale had been changed
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on the spur of the moment
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and there was no one in the bar
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who looked to Meller like
plainclothes police.
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Did you bring the 700,000 marks?
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00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:09,151
Yes. Yes.
146
00:11:10,201 --> 00:11:12,569
Actually, under police instructions,
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Meller was not carrying any money.
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Show me the 700,00 marks.
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I-I'm...
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00:11:24,175 --> 00:11:27,933
I need to verify the
authenticity of the disc so...
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00:11:28,803 --> 00:11:31,997
I-I-I need you to show me the disc first.
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00:11:47,747 --> 00:11:50,647
This sword
was found with the disc.
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Can you use it to verify the authenticity
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of the disc?
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Meller could not let this chance
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to recover the bronze disc
slip through his fingers.
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To buy time until the police
were ready to pounce,
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he played along with Hildegard's offer
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to test the sword.
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Was it authentic?
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Yes.
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I'm happy you think that.
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Concerned that the two criminals
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might not have the disc with them,
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Meller forced their hand.
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Can we do the transaction another day?
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Because you don't seem to have the disc.
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I have the disc.
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00:13:01,026 --> 00:13:02,897
Is this what you want?
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Yes.
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Just then... Come on!
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Hold it!
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Get off of me!
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I didn't do it! Get off!
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I didn't do it!
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Me? Me too?
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Me too?
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All of you!
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It turned out that almost
all the bar's customers
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were plainclothes police, about 30 of them.
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And so, after many vicissitudes,
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the bronze disc was recovered.
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Research showed that it was
truly a unique artifact.
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00:14:12,121 --> 00:14:14,275
Testimony by the black marketeers
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established the excavation site.
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It was near the small village of Nebra,
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in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
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It's a tranquil farming area
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in what used to be part of East Germany.
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The mysterious bronze object was named
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after this nearby town.
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At 250 meters elevation,
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Mittelberg is the tallest hill in the area
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around Nebra.
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It was in the dense forest,
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near the summit of that hill,
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that the Nebra sky disc was unearthed.
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Nearby trees were felled
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and a thorough investigation conducted,
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00:15:12,908 --> 00:15:16,592
but nothing similar to the
sky disc was discovered.
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00:15:20,171 --> 00:15:22,026
Further testimony by the traffickers
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described the disposition
of objects as excavated.
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The disc was flanked by
bronze swords and axes
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and other artifacts buried along with it.
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Nothing like this bronze disc
had ever been seen before.
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00:15:40,137 --> 00:15:42,552
Some even doubted its authenticity.
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00:15:57,556 --> 00:16:01,038
The Reiss-Engelhorn-Museum
in Mannheim, Germany,
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Here, there is a specialized laboratory
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that can determine whether
unearthed artifacts
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are genuine or not.
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Meller asked for the expert opinion
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of the lab's director, Ernst Pernicka.
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00:16:23,793 --> 00:16:25,371
The latest technology is used
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00:16:25,372 --> 00:16:28,107
to ascertain the composition of an object.
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00:16:28,487 --> 00:16:31,057
Director Pernicka is absolutely confident
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that he would not miss a fake.
217
00:16:47,686 --> 00:16:50,373
Ancient bronze develops a blue-green film,
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00:16:50,374 --> 00:16:52,319
or patina, on its surface.
219
00:16:53,210 --> 00:16:56,047
It is possible, however,
to simulate this patina
220
00:16:56,048 --> 00:16:58,527
with a chemically-induced oxidation.
221
00:17:01,103 --> 00:17:03,310
A special camera obtained this image
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00:17:03,311 --> 00:17:05,241
of the crystals forming the patina
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on the Nebra sky disc.
224
00:17:11,385 --> 00:17:14,297
By comparison, this is the
crystalline structure
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00:17:14,298 --> 00:17:16,244
of an artificial patina.
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00:17:19,215 --> 00:17:21,486
The longer a patina takes to form,
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the larger its crystals grow.
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00:17:24,068 --> 00:17:26,413
The crystal size of the sky disc's patina
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00:17:26,414 --> 00:17:28,937
proved that it was very old, indeed.
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00:17:29,551 --> 00:17:31,241
It was the real thing.
231
00:17:34,637 --> 00:17:36,866
Metallurgical analysis alone, however,
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00:17:36,867 --> 00:17:39,623
could not determine the disc's exact age.
233
00:17:44,643 --> 00:17:46,983
What era did this object come from?
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00:17:47,288 --> 00:17:49,607
Efforts to date the disc continued.
235
00:17:50,264 --> 00:17:53,575
One day, a clue came from
a surprising source.
236
00:17:56,387 --> 00:17:58,774
In order to preserve the disc properly,
237
00:17:58,775 --> 00:18:01,702
it was thoroughly examined
and partially restored.
238
00:18:02,264 --> 00:18:04,534
That included analysis of the methods used
239
00:18:04,535 --> 00:18:05,745
to fabricate it.
240
00:18:10,169 --> 00:18:11,880
The swords found with the disc
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00:18:11,881 --> 00:18:13,688
were actually dismantled.
242
00:18:17,342 --> 00:18:20,674
From their hilts, small,
thin chips fell out.
243
00:18:26,002 --> 00:18:27,574
What could they be?
244
00:18:27,762 --> 00:18:30,892
To find out, they were first
heated in a test tube.
245
00:18:37,074 --> 00:18:39,724
The goal? To smell the fumes.
246
00:19:09,755 --> 00:19:11,162
Analysis showed the chips
247
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to be indeed white birchbark.
248
00:19:13,561 --> 00:19:15,395
Just slivers of plant matter,
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00:19:15,396 --> 00:19:18,334
they were invaluable aids
in dating the objects.
250
00:19:21,242 --> 00:19:22,584
Carbon-14 atoms,
251
00:19:22,585 --> 00:19:25,540
which occur in a fixed
proportion in the atmosphere,
252
00:19:25,541 --> 00:19:27,646
are absorbed by living plants.
253
00:19:30,458 --> 00:19:32,088
But when the plants die,
254
00:19:32,089 --> 00:19:34,984
the carbon-14 atoms inside them decrease.
255
00:19:37,263 --> 00:19:39,052
The rate is such that they will decrease
256
00:19:39,053 --> 00:19:42,782
by approximately half every 5,730 years.
257
00:19:43,342 --> 00:19:45,666
So if carbon-14 is present in an object,
258
00:19:45,667 --> 00:19:48,636
and can be assessed, the
object can be dated.
259
00:19:51,757 --> 00:19:53,933
The white birchbark from the sword hilts
260
00:19:53,934 --> 00:19:56,882
was found to be 3,600 years old.
261
00:20:01,175 --> 00:20:03,589
This meant that the Nebra sky disc itself
262
00:20:04,179 --> 00:20:07,079
dated back some three and a half millenia
263
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to 1600 B.C.
264
00:20:24,353 --> 00:20:26,207
3,600 years ago,
265
00:20:26,208 --> 00:20:29,088
the great river-based
civilizations of Egypt,
266
00:20:29,089 --> 00:20:32,986
Mesopotamia, and the Indus,
were all flourishing.
267
00:20:38,336 --> 00:20:41,023
In Europe, no high-level
civilization existed
268
00:20:41,024 --> 00:20:42,319
at the time.
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00:20:42,656 --> 00:20:44,345
Or so it was thought.
270
00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:51,434
It was, in Europe, the end of the Stone Age
271
00:20:51,435 --> 00:20:53,914
and the beginning of the Bronze Age.
272
00:20:54,537 --> 00:20:56,255
The disc must have been created
273
00:20:56,256 --> 00:20:58,568
by people who had only just acquired
274
00:20:58,569 --> 00:21:00,420
metal-working technology.
275
00:21:08,787 --> 00:21:11,176
The researchers proceeded with restoration
276
00:21:11,177 --> 00:21:12,750
of the Nebra sky disc.
277
00:21:18,206 --> 00:21:21,336
This CT scan reveals the disc's insides.
278
00:21:22,132 --> 00:21:24,632
The darker portions indicate corrosion.
279
00:21:25,107 --> 00:21:27,649
The patina acted as a protective film,
280
00:21:28,105 --> 00:21:30,648
so the metal is in relatively good shape.
281
00:21:38,205 --> 00:21:40,295
One area requiring restoration
282
00:21:40,296 --> 00:21:42,289
was the inlaid gold circle,
283
00:21:42,290 --> 00:21:44,716
a portion of which had ripped away.
284
00:21:47,325 --> 00:21:49,712
Fortunately, the missing bit was discovered
285
00:21:49,713 --> 00:21:51,575
at the excavation site,
286
00:21:51,804 --> 00:21:54,519
so experts were able to
put it back in place.
287
00:21:56,571 --> 00:21:59,142
Analysis of the bronze also enabled them
288
00:21:59,143 --> 00:22:01,921
to visualize its pre-tarnished appearance.
289
00:22:03,505 --> 00:22:05,509
When the bronze in the disc was new,
290
00:22:05,510 --> 00:22:07,168
it had a coppery color.
291
00:22:07,547 --> 00:22:10,698
The gold decorations would
not have stood out much.
292
00:22:16,165 --> 00:22:18,810
But what experts realized
was that the bronze
293
00:22:18,811 --> 00:22:22,057
had then been subjected
to special processing.
294
00:22:59,812 --> 00:23:01,624
Researchers turned back the clock
295
00:23:01,625 --> 00:23:05,661
on 3,600 years to visualize
the original appearance
296
00:23:05,730 --> 00:23:08,029
of the finished Nebra sky disc.
297
00:23:11,746 --> 00:23:15,628
On a dark disc, golden emblems
of the moon and stars
298
00:23:15,629 --> 00:23:17,063
shone brightly.
299
00:23:18,164 --> 00:23:20,627
The disc beautifully captured key figures
300
00:23:20,628 --> 00:23:22,180
of the night sky.
301
00:23:28,734 --> 00:23:31,102
Over time, it also became apparent
302
00:23:31,103 --> 00:23:33,507
that these were no mere decorations.
303
00:23:34,143 --> 00:23:37,645
They were a way of encoding
astronomical knowledge.
304
00:23:50,441 --> 00:23:51,992
Saxony-Anhalt,
305
00:23:53,810 --> 00:23:56,434
the German state in which
the Nebra sky disc
306
00:23:56,435 --> 00:24:00,221
was discovered, maintains
a museum for prehistory
307
00:24:00,651 --> 00:24:02,025
in the city of Halle.
308
00:24:06,517 --> 00:24:09,647
Artifacts from ancient
Europe are on display here.
309
00:24:13,695 --> 00:24:16,894
Since restoration, the Nebra
sky disc has been kept here
310
00:24:16,895 --> 00:24:18,564
under strict security.
311
00:24:21,455 --> 00:24:24,628
It has been displayed in
its own exhibition space.
312
00:24:25,009 --> 00:24:26,837
Many people have viewed it.
313
00:24:33,743 --> 00:24:36,639
In fact, as soon as it
went on public display,
314
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,194
the museum was inundated with visitors
315
00:24:39,195 --> 00:24:40,671
wanting a glimpse.
316
00:24:44,879 --> 00:24:47,950
Harald Meller, the archaeologist
who was so instrumental
317
00:24:47,951 --> 00:24:49,945
in recovering the bronze disc,
318
00:24:49,946 --> 00:24:52,706
suspected that the moon and star emblems
319
00:24:52,707 --> 00:24:54,729
were not just design elements.
320
00:25:14,872 --> 00:25:16,472
So Meller asked the opinion
321
00:25:16,473 --> 00:25:18,622
of astronomer Wolfhard Schlosser.
322
00:25:23,257 --> 00:25:25,544
As an expert on ancient astronomy,
323
00:25:25,645 --> 00:25:27,778
it took Schlosser only one look
324
00:25:27,779 --> 00:25:30,099
to note a feature of great interest.
325
00:25:37,069 --> 00:25:38,828
What caught Schlosser's attention
326
00:25:38,829 --> 00:25:41,438
was the broad, gold arc on the rim
327
00:25:43,907 --> 00:25:45,801
and the traces of a similar arc
328
00:25:45,802 --> 00:25:47,908
on the opposite side of the disc.
329
00:25:48,629 --> 00:25:51,642
Once, there had been
gold arcs on both sides.
330
00:26:12,574 --> 00:26:14,216
If diagonals are extended
331
00:26:14,217 --> 00:26:16,071
toward the disc's center from the tips
332
00:26:16,072 --> 00:26:17,789
of the arc on the left,
333
00:26:17,790 --> 00:26:20,387
they meet at an angle of 82 degrees.
334
00:26:21,235 --> 00:26:23,799
Schlosser believed this to be significant.
335
00:26:30,056 --> 00:26:32,092
The Nebra sky disc was found at the top
336
00:26:32,093 --> 00:26:35,138
of a densely forested
hill called Mittelberg.
337
00:26:38,898 --> 00:26:41,521
On its summit, a tall
tower has been erected
338
00:26:41,522 --> 00:26:43,467
to commemorate the find.
339
00:26:50,460 --> 00:26:52,592
A curved disc in the ground beyond it
340
00:26:52,593 --> 00:26:54,827
marks the excavation site proper.
341
00:26:57,702 --> 00:26:59,611
The hole was filled with resin
342
00:26:59,612 --> 00:27:00,976
and is now well protected
343
00:27:00,977 --> 00:27:03,478
by this polished, stainless steel disc.
344
00:27:07,249 --> 00:27:09,594
Schlosser thought that the
location on this summit
345
00:27:09,595 --> 00:27:13,322
would explain the 82 degree
angle on the sky disc.
346
00:27:19,044 --> 00:27:21,135
He ascertained the arc traced by the sun
347
00:27:21,136 --> 00:27:23,428
during the winter and summer solstices,
348
00:27:23,429 --> 00:27:25,887
as seen from the summit of Mittelberg.
349
00:27:33,093 --> 00:27:34,852
At Nebra's high latitude,
350
00:27:34,853 --> 00:27:37,710
the sun's path on the
winter solstice is low
351
00:27:37,711 --> 00:27:39,400
and the day is short.
352
00:27:40,825 --> 00:27:42,776
On the summer solstice, however,
353
00:27:42,777 --> 00:27:44,649
the sun's path is high.
354
00:27:44,772 --> 00:27:48,595
From sunrise to sunset, the
day lasts for 16 hours.
355
00:27:52,153 --> 00:27:54,541
The endpoints of the two
arcs on the sky disc,
356
00:27:54,542 --> 00:27:58,029
thought Schlosser, might
represent sunrise and sunset
357
00:27:58,030 --> 00:28:00,531
for the summer and winter solstices.
358
00:28:03,811 --> 00:28:05,857
And indeed the actual angles,
359
00:28:05,858 --> 00:28:09,031
measured with a compass, are 82 degrees.
360
00:28:11,523 --> 00:28:13,970
The same as the sky disc.
361
00:28:32,512 --> 00:28:34,390
The Nebra sky disc thus indicated
362
00:28:34,391 --> 00:28:37,286
the winter and summer
solstices at Mittelberg.
363
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,050
It is the world's most
ancient astronomical disc.
364
00:28:45,419 --> 00:28:47,573
Ancient peoples used the solstices
365
00:28:47,574 --> 00:28:49,264
as seasonal markers.
366
00:28:56,191 --> 00:28:58,579
Other ruins were found near Nebra,
367
00:28:58,580 --> 00:29:00,581
serving a similar purpose.
368
00:29:04,639 --> 00:29:06,644
Surrounded by stout trees,
369
00:29:06,645 --> 00:29:09,071
this is known as the Goseck circle.
370
00:29:12,373 --> 00:29:15,992
The circle has been dated back 6,600 years.
371
00:29:16,554 --> 00:29:19,940
That's three millennia older
than the Nebra sky disc.
372
00:29:26,793 --> 00:29:29,319
The timber palisades are a recreation,
373
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,199
but gaps in them point
precisely to the endpoints
374
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:36,055
of the sun's path on the
winter and summer solstices.
375
00:29:39,198 --> 00:29:41,446
Standing in the center of the circle,
376
00:29:41,447 --> 00:29:44,407
one can foretell the advent of the seasons.
377
00:30:03,451 --> 00:30:05,103
From the air, it is clear
378
00:30:05,104 --> 00:30:07,237
that the Goseck circle is as round
379
00:30:07,238 --> 00:30:08,950
as the Nebra sky disc.
380
00:30:15,024 --> 00:30:18,591
One also notes an 82 degree
angle between the lines,
381
00:30:19,366 --> 00:30:21,615
connecting the endpoints of the sun's path
382
00:30:21,616 --> 00:30:25,931
on the two solstices, just
like the Nebra sky disc.
383
00:30:26,768 --> 00:30:30,042
It was a gigantic set of
guideposts to the seasons,
384
00:30:30,043 --> 00:30:33,689
transformed 3,000 years
later into the mobile
385
00:30:33,690 --> 00:30:35,167
Nebra sky disc.
386
00:30:38,191 --> 00:30:41,972
A star chart, dramatically reduced in size.
387
00:30:43,673 --> 00:30:47,220
With that portability
came new possibilities.
388
00:31:19,875 --> 00:31:21,005
The Nebra sky disc
389
00:31:21,006 --> 00:31:23,645
is the oldest celestial chart in the world
390
00:31:24,579 --> 00:31:26,722
and its apparently simple design
391
00:31:26,723 --> 00:31:29,031
concealed a high level of knowledge.
392
00:31:42,091 --> 00:31:44,476
Ralph Hansen examined the sky disc.
393
00:31:44,994 --> 00:31:47,935
Hansen was then at the Institute
for History of Science,
394
00:31:47,936 --> 00:31:51,462
Mathematics, and Technology
at the University of Hamburg.
395
00:31:51,702 --> 00:31:54,048
He delved into the mystery
of the crescent moon
396
00:31:54,049 --> 00:31:55,856
pictured on the sky disc.
397
00:32:09,024 --> 00:32:11,274
In fulfilling that calendrical role,
398
00:32:11,275 --> 00:32:14,228
Hansen says, the sky disc's incorporation
399
00:32:14,229 --> 00:32:16,543
of a full moon and a crescent moon
400
00:32:16,544 --> 00:32:18,329
is of great significance.
401
00:32:22,143 --> 00:32:24,926
The phases of the moon had
been used calendrically
402
00:32:24,927 --> 00:32:26,756
since time immemorial.
403
00:32:37,985 --> 00:32:40,983
The moon completes one
revolution around the earth
404
00:32:40,984 --> 00:32:42,812
in just under a month.
405
00:32:52,310 --> 00:32:55,329
For that reason, its shape
as seen from Earth,
406
00:32:55,330 --> 00:32:56,998
changes periodically.
407
00:33:00,535 --> 00:33:02,881
Since the moon could be seen by everybody,
408
00:33:02,882 --> 00:33:06,109
it was convenient to base
a common calendar on it.
409
00:33:32,594 --> 00:33:34,448
The earth completes one circuit
410
00:33:34,449 --> 00:33:37,633
around the sun every 365 days.
411
00:33:40,349 --> 00:33:43,798
But it takes 29.5 days to go from new moon
412
00:33:43,799 --> 00:33:47,386
to full moon and the on
to the next new moon.
413
00:33:48,853 --> 00:33:51,475
So 12 full lunar months only add up
414
00:33:51,476 --> 00:33:53,796
to 354 solar days.
415
00:33:54,548 --> 00:33:57,273
That's 11 days short of a solar year.
416
00:33:58,633 --> 00:34:00,116
By the end of the next year,
417
00:34:00,117 --> 00:34:02,319
the discrepancy would be 22 days.
418
00:34:02,836 --> 00:34:06,148
After three years, it would
be a 33-day deficit,
419
00:34:06,548 --> 00:34:08,003
about a whole month.
420
00:34:09,962 --> 00:34:12,073
The discrepancy between the lunar calendar
421
00:34:12,074 --> 00:34:14,990
and the actual seasons would only increase.
422
00:34:15,326 --> 00:34:17,736
Reconciling the solar and lunar periods
423
00:34:18,156 --> 00:34:20,747
required inserting an intercalary month
424
00:34:20,748 --> 00:34:23,003
about once every three years.
425
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:27,253
Hansen discovered that knowledge
426
00:34:27,254 --> 00:34:29,109
of these intercalary months
427
00:34:29,110 --> 00:34:32,262
was encoded in the
symbology of the sky disc.
428
00:34:35,542 --> 00:34:38,240
There were 32 stars
scattered over the surface
429
00:34:38,241 --> 00:34:39,642
of the sky disc.
430
00:34:42,646 --> 00:34:45,012
He noticed in particular a unique cluster
431
00:34:45,013 --> 00:34:48,356
of seven stars, hardly a random grouping.
432
00:34:52,426 --> 00:34:54,655
Ancient drawings have
been discovered elsewhere
433
00:34:54,656 --> 00:34:57,252
with just such a cluster of seven stars.
434
00:34:57,993 --> 00:35:01,081
They are the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades.
435
00:35:05,011 --> 00:35:06,611
In the northern hemisphere,
436
00:35:06,612 --> 00:35:08,958
the Pleiades star cluster
shines most visibly
437
00:35:08,959 --> 00:35:12,014
in winter, in the constellation Taurus.
438
00:35:18,237 --> 00:35:20,072
With the naked eye, one can detect
439
00:35:20,073 --> 00:35:22,108
only five to seven stars,
440
00:35:22,468 --> 00:35:25,224
but actually there are
dozens of young stars
441
00:35:25,225 --> 00:35:26,543
in the cluster.
442
00:35:33,118 --> 00:35:36,174
In Nebra, it is visible
from autumn to spring.
443
00:35:54,109 --> 00:35:56,200
The sky disc used concrete symbols
444
00:35:56,201 --> 00:35:59,079
based on observation, such as the Pleiades
445
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:00,632
and a crescent moon.
446
00:36:01,256 --> 00:36:04,646
The positions of the actual
celestial objects in the sky
447
00:36:04,647 --> 00:36:07,917
indicated when to interpolate
intercalary months.
448
00:36:10,088 --> 00:36:12,337
Starting in October, the Pleiades rise
449
00:36:12,338 --> 00:36:15,836
in the east after sundown,
illuminating the night sky
450
00:36:15,837 --> 00:36:18,764
for half a year, until the following March.
451
00:36:19,601 --> 00:36:21,253
During that period, the moon,
452
00:36:21,254 --> 00:36:23,206
as it revolves around the earth,
453
00:36:23,207 --> 00:36:25,686
approaches the Pleiades once a month.
454
00:36:28,145 --> 00:36:30,491
As the earth revolves around the sun,
455
00:36:30,492 --> 00:36:32,464
the location of that closest passage
456
00:36:32,465 --> 00:36:34,767
between the moon and the Pleiades
457
00:36:34,768 --> 00:36:36,896
changes from month to month.
458
00:36:37,499 --> 00:36:39,450
The shape of the moon in that position
459
00:36:39,451 --> 00:36:40,842
changes with it.
460
00:36:41,126 --> 00:36:43,353
A full moon in October diminishing
461
00:36:43,354 --> 00:36:45,600
to a crescent moon in March.
462
00:36:52,965 --> 00:36:55,172
One thing that caught Hansen's attention
463
00:36:55,173 --> 00:36:57,818
was that the crescent moon
on the Nebra sky disc
464
00:36:57,819 --> 00:37:00,277
is not the youngest visible moon.
465
00:37:00,794 --> 00:37:04,414
It's fatter, closer to a
four or five-day moon.
466
00:37:07,066 --> 00:37:10,559
Starting in October, with the
full moon near the Pleiades,
467
00:37:10,734 --> 00:37:13,102
spring can be expected the month after
468
00:37:13,103 --> 00:37:15,096
the thinnest crescent moon appears
469
00:37:15,097 --> 00:37:16,670
in the same vicinity.
470
00:37:17,903 --> 00:37:19,106
But the next year,
471
00:37:19,107 --> 00:37:21,198
the crescent moon announcing
the advent of spring
472
00:37:21,199 --> 00:37:23,026
will be somewhat fatter.
473
00:37:25,401 --> 00:37:27,074
And in the third year it will be
474
00:37:27,075 --> 00:37:30,066
a substantial four or
five-day crescent moon.
475
00:37:30,766 --> 00:37:32,621
By the solar calendar, however,
476
00:37:32,622 --> 00:37:34,738
the month will still be February.
477
00:37:38,677 --> 00:37:40,814
Hansen's hypothesis is that the four
478
00:37:40,815 --> 00:37:43,715
or five-day moon pictured on the sky disc
479
00:37:43,716 --> 00:37:46,552
indicates that when a crescent
moon of that thickness
480
00:37:46,553 --> 00:37:49,549
approaches the Pleiades,
an intercalary month
481
00:37:49,550 --> 00:37:51,262
should be interpolated.
482
00:38:31,969 --> 00:38:33,526
Babylon was a great center
483
00:38:33,527 --> 00:38:36,048
of ancient Mesopotamian civilization.
484
00:38:39,820 --> 00:38:41,909
A Babylonian cuneiform tablet
485
00:38:41,910 --> 00:38:43,967
on the stars and constellations
486
00:38:43,968 --> 00:38:46,740
discusses inserting an intercalary month
487
00:38:46,741 --> 00:38:49,428
based on the proximity of the crescent moon
488
00:38:49,429 --> 00:38:50,938
to the Pleiades.
489
00:38:53,259 --> 00:38:56,686
The Babylonian tablet was
written around 600 B.C.
490
00:38:57,653 --> 00:38:59,572
The emblems of the Nebra sky disc
491
00:38:59,573 --> 00:39:03,119
show a similar grasp of
astronomical phenomena
492
00:39:03,263 --> 00:39:05,663
and a similar calendrical sophistication
493
00:39:05,664 --> 00:39:07,375
a millenium earlier.
494
00:39:38,078 --> 00:39:40,253
There is no question that
fabricating the disc
495
00:39:40,254 --> 00:39:42,438
required both a knowledge of astronomy
496
00:39:42,439 --> 00:39:45,197
and a high level of
metalworking technology.
497
00:39:45,917 --> 00:39:48,220
How were the people of
Nebra able to produce
498
00:39:48,221 --> 00:39:51,606
such an object 3,600 years ago?
499
00:39:59,389 --> 00:40:02,843
Ernst Pernicka, who had
analyzed the sky disc's patina,
500
00:40:02,844 --> 00:40:05,813
also looked into the origins of its bronze.
501
00:40:08,903 --> 00:40:11,557
Analyzing the alloy's constituent metals,
502
00:40:11,558 --> 00:40:13,530
Pernicka and his staff identified
503
00:40:13,531 --> 00:40:15,877
even the most minute quantities
504
00:40:15,878 --> 00:40:17,846
of a range of substances.
505
00:40:18,310 --> 00:40:21,145
The combination and proportions
of those substances
506
00:40:21,146 --> 00:40:23,536
act like a fingerprint to identify
507
00:40:23,537 --> 00:40:25,130
the alloy's origins.
508
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,289
The result of chemical
analysis of the copper
509
00:40:43,290 --> 00:40:46,244
was a match not with
copper obtainable locally,
510
00:40:46,245 --> 00:40:49,283
near Nebra, but with
copper mined in the middle
511
00:40:49,284 --> 00:40:50,996
of the Austrian Alps.
512
00:40:53,475 --> 00:40:55,332
From that copper source to Nebra
513
00:40:55,333 --> 00:40:57,908
is 500 kilometers as the crow flies.
514
00:40:58,564 --> 00:41:01,406
The sky disc's copper was
a long-distance import.
515
00:41:01,764 --> 00:41:04,061
This was an unexpected discovery.
516
00:41:05,668 --> 00:41:07,566
As for the origin of the gold,
517
00:41:07,567 --> 00:41:09,726
that produced another shock.
518
00:41:11,790 --> 00:41:14,136
A survey was conducted by Gregor Borg
519
00:41:14,137 --> 00:41:16,572
of the University of Halle - Wittenberg.
520
00:41:18,434 --> 00:41:20,269
Gold was typically obtained back then
521
00:41:20,270 --> 00:41:22,935
by panning in rivers rather
than through the shaft mining
522
00:41:22,936 --> 00:41:24,679
done to obtain copper.
523
00:41:29,325 --> 00:41:31,671
Relying on old records and other data,
524
00:41:31,672 --> 00:41:33,921
Borg sampled gold deposits and sediments
525
00:41:33,922 --> 00:41:35,378
all over Europe.
526
00:41:37,993 --> 00:41:39,965
But the gold in most such locations has,
527
00:41:39,966 --> 00:41:41,709
by now, been exhausted.
528
00:41:41,833 --> 00:41:44,077
Even samples are hard to come by.
529
00:41:54,273 --> 00:41:55,989
The gold used in the Nebra sky disc
530
00:41:55,990 --> 00:41:58,703
amounted to about 50 grams all together,
531
00:41:58,815 --> 00:42:00,953
equivalent to just a few nuggets.
532
00:42:01,376 --> 00:42:02,815
But even in those days,
533
00:42:02,816 --> 00:42:05,044
it would have been extremely
difficult to scrape together
534
00:42:05,045 --> 00:42:07,759
so much of such a precious substance.
535
00:42:22,570 --> 00:42:24,924
But none of the gold was a match.
536
00:42:24,925 --> 00:42:27,249
Having almost run out of possibilities,
537
00:42:27,250 --> 00:42:30,284
the research seemed to
be coming to a dead end.
538
00:42:34,310 --> 00:42:37,487
Six years later, Borg
finally found some gold
539
00:42:37,488 --> 00:42:39,734
with a similar chemical profile.
540
00:42:45,659 --> 00:42:48,788
It was on the peninsula
of Cornwall, in England.
541
00:42:53,531 --> 00:42:56,448
That's more than 1,000
kilometers from Nebra.
542
00:43:04,772 --> 00:43:06,863
The River Carnon flows through Cornwall
543
00:43:06,864 --> 00:43:08,617
for about ten kilometers.
544
00:43:11,502 --> 00:43:13,870
In the Bronze Age, it was widely known
545
00:43:13,871 --> 00:43:15,582
as a gold-producing area.
546
00:43:16,356 --> 00:43:19,469
The gold in the Nebra sky
disc was specially imported
547
00:43:19,470 --> 00:43:21,384
from this faraway location.
548
00:43:29,753 --> 00:43:31,800
One of Cornwall's remarkable sights
549
00:43:31,801 --> 00:43:34,696
is a strange rock arrangement on a moor.
550
00:43:39,714 --> 00:43:42,685
It's a set of three circles
made with giant stones.
551
00:43:43,362 --> 00:43:44,909
They were used, it is thought,
552
00:43:44,910 --> 00:43:47,074
to track the movements of the sun,
553
00:43:47,075 --> 00:43:50,204
and thus to tell time
and follow the seasons.
554
00:43:55,969 --> 00:43:57,526
Perhaps by coincidence,
555
00:43:57,527 --> 00:44:00,054
they date from very much the same period
556
00:44:00,055 --> 00:44:03,953
as the Nebra sky disc, about 1500 B.C.
557
00:44:06,369 --> 00:44:09,408
Why was Cornwall's gold
taken across the ocean
558
00:44:09,409 --> 00:44:11,056
to faraway Nebra?
559
00:44:16,754 --> 00:44:18,968
And why were the disc's gold and copper
560
00:44:18,969 --> 00:44:21,128
obtained from different sources?
561
00:44:26,008 --> 00:44:29,492
Bernd Zich is an expert in
ancient European history.
562
00:44:30,169 --> 00:44:31,630
He tried to solve the mystery
563
00:44:31,631 --> 00:44:34,073
of why the Nebra sky
disc incorporated metals
564
00:44:34,074 --> 00:44:36,063
from such disparate locations.
565
00:45:13,731 --> 00:45:15,915
Apart from agricultural produce,
566
00:45:15,916 --> 00:45:18,738
Nebra has one other major local industry.
567
00:45:22,946 --> 00:45:24,524
This white mountain is a site
568
00:45:24,525 --> 00:45:27,676
for mining potassium
chloride, a kind of salt.
569
00:45:31,703 --> 00:45:34,897
Long ago, the Nebra area
had been under the sea.
570
00:45:35,532 --> 00:45:38,368
For that reason, high
quality salt was available
571
00:45:38,369 --> 00:45:39,547
in abundance.
572
00:45:39,894 --> 00:45:41,248
And in the Bronze Age,
573
00:45:41,249 --> 00:45:43,813
salt was as vitally important as gold.
574
00:45:49,419 --> 00:45:52,736
3,600 years ago, people
got what they needed
575
00:45:52,737 --> 00:45:54,073
by bartering.
576
00:46:00,288 --> 00:46:03,306
Gold and copper were traded and re-traded,
577
00:46:03,307 --> 00:46:05,274
making their way to Nebra.
578
00:46:15,060 --> 00:46:17,609
These high-value metals
were brought to Nebra
579
00:46:17,610 --> 00:46:19,789
to be traded for high-quality salt
580
00:46:19,998 --> 00:46:21,412
and other foodstuffs.
581
00:46:24,213 --> 00:46:26,851
But transactions were
not limited to things.
582
00:46:27,082 --> 00:46:29,987
No doubt, knowledge was exchanged as well.
583
00:46:34,025 --> 00:46:35,954
Certainly, astronomical knowledge
584
00:46:35,955 --> 00:46:37,811
would have been highly prized
585
00:46:37,812 --> 00:46:39,736
by an agricultural people.
586
00:46:47,518 --> 00:46:51,031
The Nebra sky disc emerged
when and where it did
587
00:46:51,451 --> 00:46:53,847
thanks to ancient trading practices.
588
00:47:16,810 --> 00:47:18,643
From England in the West,
589
00:47:18,644 --> 00:47:21,193
to as far as Egypt in the south,
590
00:47:21,194 --> 00:47:23,333
trade thrived in ancient Europe.
591
00:47:30,805 --> 00:47:34,403
That trade gave birth to a
flourishing civilization.
592
00:47:42,835 --> 00:47:45,438
The Nebra sky disc constitutes proof
593
00:47:45,439 --> 00:47:48,589
of this hitherto unknown civilization.
594
00:48:02,290 --> 00:48:04,753
The sky disc was found just 10 centimeters
595
00:48:04,754 --> 00:48:06,914
below the surface of the earth.
596
00:48:20,941 --> 00:48:22,512
This is the grave
597
00:48:22,513 --> 00:48:24,516
of one of the leaders of that era.
598
00:48:28,795 --> 00:48:31,002
A number of precious items were buried
599
00:48:31,003 --> 00:48:32,321
next to the body.
600
00:48:39,195 --> 00:48:41,732
Sword blades, axe heads, and other items
601
00:48:41,733 --> 00:48:43,701
were buried there in pairs.
602
00:48:48,486 --> 00:48:50,533
Similar mortuary items were buried
603
00:48:50,534 --> 00:48:52,597
next to the sky disc as well.
604
00:48:57,221 --> 00:49:01,161
Two axes, two swords,
and two spiral armlets.
605
00:49:08,271 --> 00:49:11,497
The sky disc had not simply
been buried in the ground,
606
00:49:11,641 --> 00:49:14,121
it had been interred in ritual fashion
607
00:49:14,767 --> 00:49:17,417
as if it had been some august personage.
608
00:49:19,736 --> 00:49:22,324
It is also possible that
some better sky disc
609
00:49:22,325 --> 00:49:25,900
had been created, rendering
this one obsolete.
610
00:49:28,370 --> 00:49:31,804
Some scholars speculate
that even an obsolete disc
611
00:49:31,805 --> 00:49:35,323
could still have been offered
up to the gods in gratitude,
612
00:49:35,469 --> 00:49:38,128
but there has been no final answer here.
613
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:07,269
In June of 2013,
614
00:50:07,573 --> 00:50:09,780
the Nebra sky disc was inscribed
615
00:50:09,781 --> 00:50:12,843
on UNESCO's Memory of the World Registry
616
00:50:13,083 --> 00:50:15,429
of documentary heritage objects.
617
00:50:16,736 --> 00:50:20,261
Deciphering the code of its
complex symbology continues.
618
00:50:23,943 --> 00:50:26,347
That arc that so resembles a smile,
619
00:50:27,079 --> 00:50:28,694
what does it signify?
620
00:50:29,276 --> 00:50:31,578
And what about the total of 32 stars
621
00:50:31,579 --> 00:50:33,195
pictured on the disc?
622
00:50:33,436 --> 00:50:35,147
What do they mean?
623
00:50:38,012 --> 00:50:41,189
3,600 years ago, the people gazing
624
00:50:41,190 --> 00:50:43,769
at the Pleiades and the crescent moon
625
00:50:43,770 --> 00:50:47,103
discovered marvelous laws of the cosmos.
626
00:50:50,544 --> 00:50:53,497
Inscribed symbolically on this small disc,
627
00:50:53,498 --> 00:50:55,983
that precious knowledge could be shared
628
00:50:55,984 --> 00:50:58,015
by a broad group of people.
629
00:51:01,253 --> 00:51:03,576
When the Nebra sky disc was buried,
630
00:51:03,577 --> 00:51:05,428
it was lost to history.
631
00:51:05,925 --> 00:51:08,483
But the knowledge it represents survived
632
00:51:08,484 --> 00:51:10,612
and spread around the world.
633
00:51:11,311 --> 00:51:13,933
That knowledge lives on even today,
634
00:51:13,934 --> 00:51:15,838
transcending time.
47376
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