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WonderBronze Age cosmology fact

The Trundholm Sun Chariot, made in Denmark about 3,400 years ago, is a bronze horse on wheels pulling a bronze disc that is gilded on one side. It seems to show the sun being drawn across the sky.

Zealand, Denmark, c. 1400 BCE

Religion & BeliefArchaeologyArt

The story behind the card

A farmer ploughing a peat bog on the Trundholm moor, in north-west Zealand, turned up the chariot in 1902. In 1998 archaeologists and metal detectorists went back to the spot and recovered 21 more pieces, including parts of the wheels. Bronze Age Scandinavians left no writing, so the object itself is the main clue to their beliefs. Many archaeologists read the two faces of the disc as day and night: the bright side is shown as the sun travels from east to west by day, the dark side as it returns unseen by night. The chariot is dated to about 1400 BCE and is kept at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.

Türkçe oku
Trundholm Güneş Arabası yaklaşık 3.400 yıl önce Danimarka'da yapıldı: tekerlekli bronz bir at, bir yüzü altınla kaplı bronz bir diski çeker. Güneşin gökyüzünde bir atla taşındığı inancını gösterdiği düşünülür.
Zelanda, Danimarka, MÖ 1400 dolayları

Araba 1902'de, Zelanda Adası'nın kuzeybatısındaki Trundholm bataklığında toprağı süren bir çiftçinin sabanına takıldı. 1998'de arkeologlar ve metal dedektörcüler aynı yere dönüp tekerlek parçaları dahil 21 parça daha buldu. Tunç Çağı İskandinavları yazı bırakmadığı için inançlarına dair en önemli ipucu nesnenin kendisidir. Pek çok arkeolog diskin iki yüzünü gündüz ve gece olarak yorumlar: parlak yüz, güneşin gündüz doğudan batıya yolculuğunu; karanlık yüz ise geceleyin görünmeden geri dönüşünü anlatır. MÖ 1400 dolaylarına tarihlenen araba, Kopenhag'daki Danimarka Ulusal Müzesi'nde sergileniyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Trundholm sun chariot
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