Ever since its discovery atop a hill in Germany in 1999, a bronze and gold artefact dubbed the ‘Nebra disc’, has baffled both archaeologists and historians alike as to its authenticity. Despite numerous court hearings to prove that this supposed Bronze Age relic is not a hoax, researchers are still adamant about defining what they believe it means. The general consensus is that it is representative of important stars, although opinions differ vastly as to which stars are purportedly shown… except for a cluster of ‘dots’ that all seem to be in agreement with.

The cluster seems to represent the Pleiades.

One of the more recent opinions expressed by an archaeologist in an entry on ‘Online Spiegel’( 21 February 2006) is that in BC1600, the year the disc supposedly dates back to, the people living in the Sachsen-Anhalt area where it was found, used the disc to orientate themselves as to the seasons… an astronomical clock as it were.

Be that as it may, Wayne Herschel, author of ‘The Hidden Records’ has reason to believe there is a lot more at play here. For him the disc is yet another piece of the cosmic puzzle he proposes in his star map theory that seems to fit with almost all ancient civilisations.

On first examining it, Wayne could not help thinking: Would the Orion, Pleiades and Sun-like-star cosmic pattern that seems to be included in most ancient cultures appear on this disc also? Would Orion come into play, as the cosmic signpost theme as it appears in so many of the other star maps in his book?

Of course if this is the case, it will also put Germany onto the map as once hosting an advanced culture just like the ancient Egyptians and other ancient civilisations.

From his interpretation, Wayne agrees with other researchers who say the disc maps out the Pleiades among its 32 stars, but he takes this finding to new as yet unexplored heights.

Firstly, he has only recently realised that there appears to be an interpretation of the Milky Way in relation to the position of the Pleiades.

Once he had made this simple deduction, the missing Orion constellation fell into place. It was perfectly presented. There are three dots in the very centre and it fits precisely between the two gold curved edges that adorn the two opposite ends of the disc. Is this the answer? In the image below, notice how the four outer Orion stars seem interpreted symmetrically and are located near the ends of each of these curved gold edges.

Wayne ’s proposed interpretation is as follows:

Note how Wayne has proposed a completely new solution for the Milky Way on the right hand side gold insert on the Nebra disc. It is surrounded with hundreds of small grooves (stars) while having lines like a curved rainbow. This is the clue here, because the Milky Way is depicted curved from one horizon to the other, just like a rainbow.

Orion appears to fit centrally as the cosmic signpost that one must follow to find the Pleiades. This is true in the night sky. Wayne realises that the way in which Aldebaran is shown may be reason for debate. He believes they would not have left out Aldeberan or Sirius. However, he ascribes this to its ‘designers’ possibly having allowed themselves a certain amount of ‘artistic licence’:

“It is as if they first put in the orb and crescent… associated with Orion, Aldebaran and Sirius showing the way to these sacred gold icons… then the Pleiades and the outer star references were filled in.

Why?

Because, as was the case in other ancient civilisations, they most likely would have wanted to give prominence to the heavenly bodies that were of greatest significance!

Coincidently, the gold dots that make up the Pleiades also have three small stars in a row, which Wayne has referenced previously in his other proposed star map solutions. The three small stars generalise the direction to the Sun-like star… and it seems approximately correct here. The angle ‘x’ formed is very similar to the angle the Pleiades form with the Orion’s Belt star alignment, in comparison with the significant Sun-like star he isolates on the star atlas shown below. It is the same angle that seems to repeatedly recur at numerous ancient sites.

He believes that in all likelihood the crescent on the Nebra disc is not representative of the moon, just as the orb in all likelihood is NOT our Sun. Primarily because the Sun and the stars do not appear concurrently when we look at the sky, but also because it is more reasonable to understand more emotion might be attached to the place of their ‘gods’ rather than our very mundane daily Sun.

Wayne has a slightly different interpretation of the Pleiades than that suggested by academics. Scholars have commented that this cluster does not appear to have exacting form.

Examine the star atlas image above. Notice that the brightest star constellations have a general similarity to the stars on the Nebra disc.

If one studies the Sumerians, there are hundreds of instances in which a large star and a crescent with seven heavenly bodies are depicted in conjunction with one another. Scholars have already suggested that the seven heavenly bodies are the Pleiades. If the ancients claim there ‘gods’ came from the stars, is it not fair to suggest this Orb and crescent have something to do with their place of origin?

It would therefore make sense that what is being depicted, is not our Sun at all, but a ‘Sun-like’ star system. In the same token, the crescent might in all likelihood be a planet associated with this star. A place of origin perhaps for a very advanced flesh and blood ‘god’!

Researchers claim that the Nebra disc is the "oldest representation of the stars in the world."

Wayne believes this claim could be a little premature. One need only take a look at the Lascaux cave which he explores in his book. This cave in France has the very same star map theme, and the site is over 17000 years old. Watch the website soon for a preview. The cave also has a second ‘mythological’ version of the star map, and quite amazingly it appears to portray Orion as a deity, the very same bird headed deities of the Egyptians and Sumerians.

Given that archaeologists have come to believe that the Mittelberg hill and its concrete pit where the disc was found, served as a type of observatory, they will no doubt find Wayne’s new theory hard to swallow. The archaeological dig has gone down about half a metre into the soil, leaving loose stone walls standing. The site was once surrounded by wooden palisades and a complex of defensive ditches. Small wonder that many have likened it to Stonehenge!

(Interested German-speaking readers can click here to order The Hidden Records book from amazon.de )

Watch this space for more developments.