British Museum to display the world’s oldest map of stars

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The British Museum says it will display what it says is the world’s oldest surviving map of the stars in a major upcoming exhibition on the Stonehenge stone circle. The 3,600-year-old “Nebra Sky Disc,” first discovered in Germany in 1999, is one of the oldest surviving representations of the cosmos in the world. The London museum said it has never before been displayed in the U.K. The 30 centimeter (12 inch) bronze disc features a blue-green patina and is decorated with inlaid gold symbols thought to represent the sun, the moon and constellations. The “World of Stonehenge” exhibition planned for next year will be the first time the disc has been loaned out from Germany for 15 years.