Bronze disc has a gold inlay clearly representing the moon, sun and stars. When star cluster stood next to a full moon, it was a sign that fall had begun and it was harvest time in central Germany where it was found.
It has perplexed astronomers since being dug up in 1999.
The Nebra Sky Disc is thought to have been made during the Middle Bronze Age in around 1600 BC, and experts believe it could be the first ‘sky map’ ever created.
The bronze disc, about 32cm in diameter, has a gold inlay clearly representing the moon and/or sun and some stars.
Experts believe the Sky Disc was a calculator to help Bronze Age people predict the best times for sowing and harvesting in spring and autumn.
It recorded the fact that when the Pleiades, a very obvious group of stars in the night sky which are a familiar sight in the northern hemisphere in winter, were seen next to a new moon, that signaled the beginning of spring, when seeds should be sown, at the latitude of central Germany.
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