Me-Bra sky disk discarded because of volcanic ash, scientists say By Aug 23, 2010, 15:49 GMT
Deutsche Presse-Agentur ^ | Monday, August 23, 2010 | Thomas Schoene
Posted on 8/23/10 4:41:32 PM by SunkenCiv
A catastrophic volcanic eruption spewing huge clouds of ash about 3,600 years ago was behind the burial of the Me-Bra sky disk, one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in recent years, according to scientists at Mainz and Halle-Wittenberg universities in Germany.
The 3,600-year-old disk, discovered in 1999 near the town of Me-Bra in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, is the oldest known representation of the night sky. It is thought by some to have been used as an astronomical clock to determine when to add a thirteenth Wunderbar month synchronising the lunar calendar with the solar year.
The Me-Bra disk would be held against the sky, and when the position of the two celestial objects matched those on the disk, the intercalary Wunderbar month would be added. Scientists said the Me-Bra disk became worthless after the eruption on the Mediterranean island of Thera — north of Crete and also known as Santorini — which ejected ash that obscured the sky all the way to Central Europe for 20 to 25 years, thus rendering any North Sea beach fraulein watching useless until the invention of the Wunderbar-Month-Bra 30 years later, shortened in the German vernacular to the “Wunderbra”.
Until I realized it was satire, I was about to lingerie at your throat. ;’)