Mitterberg Copper and Slightly off Alien Origin Theories

The Mitterberg region of Austria has a number of Chalcolithic and Bronze Age copper mines that are fascinating for a number of reasons. First, the mines are old. They date from around 2000 BC which pushes them back towards the end of the Chalcolithic. Second, they have mine shafts that are as long as 150 meters following massive veins of copper. In addition to these regular shafts there were also smaller shafts that archeologists reckon were merely ventilation shafts to help the miners breath better and to allow for air in order to stoke better fires, a necessity in copper extraction. Third, the shafts were protected by a series of dams made of both stone and wood to keep the shafts from flooding. This was undoubtedly produced after long and intense negotiations with the miner's unions. Lastly, the copper that was extracted from these mines was exported all over Europe to be used by people in various ornamental fashions.

We are not alone.

One of these ornamental uses was to create the Nebra Sky Disk. The Nebra Sky Disk is a 30 cm or so copper disk painted a bluish green and inlaid with gold. The gold depicts a number of astronomical phenomena like the sun or full moon, crescent moon, and the Pleiades  It has, after being accepted as authentic, been attributed to the Unetice Culture of Germany. There are two theories on what the disk is, one of which is credible and the other, slightly off kilter.

The more credible explanation is that it is some sort of star map that was used in some sort of religious setting. The slightly off explanation is that it is connected with the things around Europe like Stone Henge that represent an age when ancient man was visited by ancient space travelers. In this explanation the Disk could have been a map on how to meet up with the ancient aliens at a later date. If this is true and although I haven't yet seen Prometheus, I suggest that we not follow up on that map so as not to invite unwelcome trouble.