The Sky Disk of Nebra
1999
When Lara Christensen arrived on the evening of 4th July 1999 to the clubhouse of the Adventure Club of Europe, shock was written all over her face. Just what had happened to the renowned Danish archaeologist/astronomer who was, at that time, the youngest ever female member of ACE at the age of only 34?
Between 10.00 and 10.15
“… I’ve finally found it. After four long months I’ve finally found the tomb. It lies on the Mittelberg.”
Christensen wrote the following regarding the scene in the vicinity of the small town of Nebra, Germany.
“Through a narrow gap, I squeezed myself into an underground chamber and turned on my flashlight. The soil was dense, low in oxygen, but I pressed on, in search of the podium on which I would place the bronze disc. My eyes couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It looked like an ancient depiction of the sky, with a – at first glance – correct arrangement of the Pleiades star cluster.
“I filled up on fresh oxygen and continued to explore another corner of the burial chamber. The rock was so old, so fragile – I had to be careful.
“What I saw next I can only describe as a ‘Bronze Age Coordinate System’. Finely finished stones stood in a crescent shape, probably intended to reflect light onto the carefully engraved stone slabs when the time was just right all those thousands of years ago when the chamber was above ground.
“At the centre of the stone slab sat a circular plate which, I assumed, the bronze disc would be fitted. I can tell you now – it contained a map of the universe. Not only that, the glow of my flashlight cast shadows onto what seemed like a clear path.
“I became frightened suddenly, I had heard voices. Two men set upon me and tore the bronze disc from my grasp. When I tried to fight back one of the assailants pulled a gun. I ran. Amidst all this confusion one of the men had stumbled against one of the fragile standing stones, causing it to fall. The entire tomb trembled. I got out just in time and ran for my life as the earth behind me crumbled and fell into the chamber.
The last thing I saw was my two assailants fleeing deep into the forest with the bronze disc in tow.”
At this point, Lara Christensen’s report ends.
A few months after her discovery, the artefact (which would later be revealed to be the Sky Disc of Nebra) appeared on the black market where it was found and turned over to the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, in which Nebra is located. To this day, Lara Christensen still vies to get permission to restore the burial chamber and finish her investigations into the Sky Disc. Her goal is to discover just what secrets the star map held.
Unresolved issues and complications connected to the Federal State have made this so far impossible. One employee of the Ministry has said a ‘grave chamber restitution permit’ would need to be released, as well as the undertaking of a clear ‘vegetation stability test’ of the Mittelberg area, as well as an ‘artefact regression safety’ process.
Ten years ago a committee was set up at the Ministry to take up the case.
