Nebra praised the Sky Disk as the oldest representation of the universe. Discovered by pirates in 1999 and later rescued by a flood of archaeologists and law enforcers, the ancient bronze and gold-plated night sky was the subject of heated debate.

Now, a pair of German archaeologists are questioning the age and origin of the disc, adding another chapter to the intricate story of the enchanting object.

The disc is currently estimated to be 3,600 years old, dating to the Bronze Age. The first robbers said it was buried on a hilltop near the German town of Nebra.

Rupert Gehard, director of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich, and Rediger Krauss, professor of early European history at Goethe University Frankfurt, now suggest that the disk is a product of the Iron Age, about 1,000 years old.

Researchers also suggest that the pirates may have moved the disk to the Nebra site from another location, meaning that it may not have been associated with other objects or Nebra. A study published this month In the Journal of Archaeological Information.

“We see the disk as a single invention, a single cortical object, because nothing fits in the surrounding area,” he said. Said the use.

State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Germany, displaying the Nebra Sky Disc, Issued a statement The team’s conclusions are called “apparently wrong” and “easily rejected”.

“The biggest mistake in science is if you don’t mention the whole data,” said museum director Harold Meller. “What these colleagues are doing is referring only to a very limited amount of data that seems to fit their system.”

Dr. Gehard and Dr. Doubts were raised about several assumptions related to the cross and disk.

This craft is thought to be related to the Bronze Age because the soil of the objects represents a common period, but the study points to conflicting court documents about those assessments. Some of the weapons associated with the disc did not come from the Bronze Age or the same investment. Gehard and Dr. Cross also comments.

Researchers suspect that real robbers may have moved handicrafts to the Nebra site to keep their site secret from professional archaeologists.

“They will never tell you where they dug, because it’s like a treasure chest for them,” he said. Gehard said. “They go back to the same place to get and sell new materials.”

Disputes over the authenticity of the Nebra Sky Disk are not uncommon. Exquisite design concerns experts and the general public, but it is not Provoked concerns That it is fake.

“The problem here is such a one-off,” said Allison Sheridan, former president of the Prehistoric Society, who has no ties to either team. “That’s what people said, maybe it’s fake.”

Emilia Pester, an archaeologist at the Tor Istan Museum in Hungary, where the disc was studied, suggested that its black market background exacerbates these uncertainties.

“The Nebra Disc, due to the circumstances of its discovery, is one of the most archaic finds ever to be discussed, until a more accurate dating method for metals is discovered.”

However, there is a strong opinion that the Nebra Sky Disc is an ancient work of art.

“It simply came to our notice then. This is not a fake, ”he said. Told about the cross disk. You can make a very interesting scientific discussion out of it showing the different aspects or objectives of how to divide this material into Bronze or Iron Age. ”

To that end, Dr. to publish a dissertation on the new study. Meller’s team intends. Other archaeologists think they have a lot to work on.

“The arguments presented here do not rule out the possibility that it was the Bronze Age,” said Dr. John H. Snyder, of New York. Sheridan.