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Archaeological Finds On Or Near The Brocken

Breakfastologist

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Inspired by this news story and other Brocken related stuff- I had heard of the spectre effect but it seems that it was the centre of all kinds of old culture, presumably the cause of it's being associated with witches and the like. Does anyone know more about Brocken mythology or know any good sources?

The link is long dead. The MIA news story can be retrieved via the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/2005050..._id=qw1032973740198B265&set_id=1&fSetCookie=1

See later post for the MIA article's text.
 
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So this is where the term 'Brocken Spectre' comes from?

It does seem like it was an important site; a 'milestone in archaeological research'...

State archaeologist Harald Meller said the site, which is believed to be a monument of ancient cult worship, provided the first insights into the spiritual and religious world of Europe’s earliest farmers. Francois Bertemes of the university of Halle-Wittenberg estimated the site to be around 7,000 years old. He described its significance as "one of the oldest holy sites" discovered in Central Europe.

There was an update here, Breakfast;-

dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1441_A_942824_1_A,00.html
Link is dead. No archived version found.
 
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David Raven said:
There was an update here, Breakfast;-
dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1441_A_942824_1_A,00.html

For those with broadband, or fast connections, there's a link to a short Realplay video clip about the Nebra disk that's really quite good.

It's at the bottom of the web page, posted by David.

NOTE: For more on the Brocken Spectre phenomenon, see this dedicated thread:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/brocken-spectre.66477/
 
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I know about Brocken spectres but not other stuff - any elaboration?

Kath
 
Here's the complete text from the MIA news article cited in post #1 ...
Spooky finds in German archaeological dig
September 25 2002 at 07:44PM

Nebra, Germany - Archaeologists offered a first glimpse on Wednesday of a lost culture's holy site atop a German peak, and confirmed it as the source of the world's oldest map of the heavens.

The exact location has been kept secret for weeks, amid fears that treasure-seekers would move in and disturb Bronze Age remains.

The site is atop the Mittelberg, a 252m hill in the Ziegelroda Forest, 180km south-west of Berlin.

Adding a spooky touch is the discovery that, seen from the Mittelberg, the sun sets every June 22 behind the Brocken, the highest mountain in northern Germany. The Brocken is in a direct line of sight on a clear day, 85km to the north-west.

The Brocken is fabled in northern European mythology as the place where witches gather for a coven every April 30.

Scientists are still scratching their heads at the full meaning of a 32cm bronze-and-gold disc found by treasure hunters on the Mittelberg in 1999. The map on its face shows the Brocken as well as 32 stars including the Pleiades.

Experts in pre-history can only guess at the identity of the people who made the "Nebra Disc" 3 600 years ago.

"This disc, with the oldest concrete representation of the stars in the world, was placed in a pit in the middle of a ringwall during the early Bronze Age," Harald Meller, the chied archaeologist in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said on Wednesday.

"We still don't know if it was a princely grave or a treasure store for holy objects."

On Wednesday reporters were shown a clearing where the archaeological dig had gone down about half a metre into the soil, leaving what appeared to be loose stone walls standing. The site was once surrounded by wooden palisades and a complex of defensive ditches.

Wolfhard Schlosser, an expert in ancient astronomy at the University of the Ruhr, added, "The ringwall was built in such a way that the sun seemed to disappear every equinox behind the Brocken."

Experts believe the map and site formed an observatory, which was used to set the calendar for planting and harvesting crops.

The nearby forest contains 1 000 barrows or princely graves from the period, but little else is known about the lost people, who are not mentioned in ancient Greek or other Mediterranean sources.

Meller said two bronze swords found at the site had been made with a technique unique to Mycenaean and Anatolian swords, and had a similar shape to arms found in modern Romania and Hungary. The site is to become a tourist attraction when the dig finishes in a year or two.
SALVAGED FROM THE WAYBACK MACHINE:
https://web.archive.org/web/2005050..._id=qw1032973740198B265&set_id=1&fSetCookie=1
 
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