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Halle is a city in the southern part
of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. Halle is an economic and educational center
in central-eastern Germany and the birthplace of Georg Friedrich Händel.
Since I once had close relations with the Max-Planck-Institute of
Microstructure Physics in Halle, I was there a lot - and never saw anything of
the city. |
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Meanwhile I changed that
and I'm glad. There is a lot to see and the "Landesmuseum für
Vorgeschichte", i.e. the Museum of the German state of Sachsen-Anhalt
dedicated to prehistory. It is not only a highlight but a must for anybody
interested in the stone age and early metals.
You'll find an unbelievable amount of stone and bronze objects in mint
conditions. This is mostly due to heavy surface coal digging since the 19th
century but also to some recent luck; I'll get to that. |
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The museum is housed in
an imposing early 20th century building with large and airy rooms. Most of the
objects are displayed in an old-fashioned way, meaning that not only can you
actually see the objects, there are also well-written explanations, readable
without using a flashlight while lying on your belly. Moreover, there are good
models, many highly interesting maps, and fascinating artistic impressions of
what things might have looked like.
The high point of the museum is the famous "Nebra sky disk". I have referred to it
before. |
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The disc is a unique
one-of-its-kind object. That would be sufficient to make it famous. It was
"discovered" by treasure hunters who tried to sell it; illegally of
course. Two elaborately made bronze
swords (shown here and
in large scale
here)
and a few smaller items completed the loot. The finders were eventually caught
by international police forces in a highly spectacular way, and the objects
found their way into the museum.
The Nebra sky disc is from about 1600 BC and features the oldest concrete
depiction of the cosmos worldwide. In June 2013 it was included in the UNESCO
Memory of the World Register and termed "one of the most important
archaeological finds of the twentieth century". |
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The whole thing was a
stupendous sensations with all kinds of repercussions. The museum spared
neither time nor effort to accommodate these fabulous objects in style. A
special room was dedicated to the Nebra things, and the rooms given to middle
bronze age were completely redone. That's partially quite unfortunate since the
museum then succumbed to the dreaded "Keep-things-in-the-dark
disease", like so many others before. While the Nebra objects are
perfectly illuminated and displayed, this cannot be said for many other things;
I'll get to that. |
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First, however, let's
look at some stone age stuff. Below you see why I like this museum so much. It
gives a whole case with good explanations and pictures to a really unassuming
tiny object: |
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| Birch bark tar; 80.000 years old from
Neandethals |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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Well - it's the oldest
man-made material: Birch bark tar or birch
pitch. Absolutely essential to early humans. I've told you about that
elsewhere.
The next example also pays tribute to the museums old but
great ways of presenting their stuff. |
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| Woman from Bad Dürrenberg. (7.000 -
6.600 BC) |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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Just an elderly lady?
Yes - but a special one. Read the description! The stuff in her grave indicates
that she wielded power, probably as a shaman. The close inspection of her skull
indicated that she had a kind of bone deformation that allowed her to induce
semi-consciousness or trance by certain movements of her head. Clear texts and
pictures guide you through the details.
To top it off, an artists interpretation of what she might have looked like is
provided, based on some of the things in her grave, that really tickles your
phantasy: |
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Woman from Bad Dürrenberg. (7.000 -
6.600 BC); artists conception
Large size |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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Pictures like that do
help your imagination (possibly in more than one way). That's why I give you
another one: |
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Homo Sapiens; around 40.000 BC
Brought along some technology like designer cloth (and good looks)
and replaced (after some mingling) the Neandethals. |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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It's time for the more serious stuff.
I've seen many stone axes with holes before but never wondered how those stone
age guys drilled the holes. They definitely did not have the usually assumed
hollow copper
drill. The museum shows and explains how it was done. Go there yourself to
find out.
It suddenly became clear to me that all that hole drilling after copper tools became available was nothing new
to the ancient artisans. They had done it before for thousands of years with
less sophisticated tools |
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Partially drilled stone axe and some drilling
cores. 6.900 - 6.600 BC;
definitely no copper drills then. |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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Another impressive
feature is the wall of a huge room. It is covered with many thousands of
stone tools. Far better
than to keep all that in some dark basement. |
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Stone tools and how you work wood with
them
Large size |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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One
could spend a long time in this room alone - and I haven't even mentioned the
ceramics there and elsewhere. I learned a lot about early cultures in middle
Europe, including a thing or two about the influx of copper and bronze
technology from the South-East. For example, how it spread (see below), what
kind of trade was of importance, and why the area changed between being rich
and prosperous to being rather poor a few times. Many clear and detailed maps
and drawings were very helpful in this respect; below is one: |
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Let's
turn to the unbelievably rich collection of bronze objects in the newly redone
room. Here is the centerpiece, showing just parts of what is there: |
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Some of the many bronze objects in a dark
room
From around 2.000 - 1.800 BC; when the region was rich
Large size |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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Note the objects marked
with a white arrow. They are almost at floor level and appear to be made from
gold. No description is visible. If you want to find out what it is, you must
either lie down on your belly our point your camera and hope that you will be
able to look at a clear picture later.
Here is the best I got: |
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| Floor decorations? |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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Aha! After heavy
contrast enhancement it became possible to read the inscription on the glass.
It tells you that these pieces are modern bronze casts. They are supposed to
give you an impression of what bronze things looked like when they were new and
shiny. How anyone with an IQ above that of an avocado can come up with such a
design is a mystery to me. |
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Of
course you will see magnificent bronze swords and other objects (including
mysterious ones), too. Here is an example |
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Shield and swords from typically 8th - 9th
century BC
Large size showing
more |
| Source: Photographed in the Museum in
April. 2018 |
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© H. Föll (Iron, Steel and Swords script)
With frame
Critical Museum Guide