The Nebra sky disc
The oldest picture of the sky, dug up by looters
This bronze disc with a gold sun or moon, crescent and stars, probably including the Pleiades, is the oldest known concrete depiction of the heavens. Treasure hunters with a metal detector dug it up and sold it in 1999; in 2002 a police sting in Basel recovered it.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 16th century BC
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The oldest known depiction of the night sky was recovered in a police sting in Basel. Looters with a metal detector dug up the 3,600-year-old Nebra sky disc in 1999 and sold it; in 2002 it was seized from black-market dealers. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Asia
- c. 1600 BC Founding of the Shang dynasty — same year