Berlin Gold Hat

The Berlin Gold Hat is a Bronze Age artefact made ​​of thin gold sheet. It served as an outer decorative panel langschäftigen a headgear with a brim, which probably consisted of organic material and the outer, thin gold sheet mechanically stabilized.

He is the instance best obtained from a group of now four known, cone shaped gold hats from the Bronze Age, in the course of the 19th and 20th century in southern Germany ( gold foil cone of Ezelsdorf - book, Golden Hat by Schiffer city) and France ( gold foil cone found by Avanton ) in more or less good condition.

It is now believed that the gold hats were religious- cultic purposes and were used by priests of a spread in the late Bronze Age in Central Europe sun cult. This view is supported by the pictorial representation of an interpreted object as a cone hat on a stone slab from the grave of Kivik in Skåne ( southern Sweden) in a distinctly religious - cultic context.

After partial decoding of the ornament canons of the cone- shaped gold hats of the type Schiffer city to write the sheet gold cones today in addition to their representative and cultic function extensive calendar functions. Whether they were actually used as a calendar, or whether they represent the underlying astronomical knowledge only, is unclear.

The Berlin Gold Hat was acquired in 1996 by the Museum of Pre -and Early History, as a fund without locality, presumably originating from a illegal excavation, from the art market. Based on the ornament comparison with other, more accurately dated as found objects, the time of its manufacture to the Late Bronze Age, about 1000 to 800 BC, dated. As original locality suspected southern Germany or Switzerland.

Description

The Berlin Gold Hat is a wheel with Punzstempeln and ornament ornate, 490 g heavier gold hat with a long, slender stem and cuffs and gebauchtem foot. In its composition it resembles the previously discovered gold foil cone of Ezelsdorf book.

The sheet of the Berlin hat is amplified by an approximately 10 mm wide ring of flat bronze plate in the area of ​​" hat band ". The outer edge of the brim of the hat is completed by a twisted square wire, around which the sheet is curled upwards.

The total height of the gold sheet cone is 745 mm. The piece was prepared as a blowing operation of a gold alloy with 89.7 % gold, 9.8% silver, 0.4% copper and 0.1 % tin in one piece and has an average wall thickness of 0.6 mm.

The sheet-gold cone is ornamented coverage over the entire length with horizontal trim and frame bands. In this case, 14 different Punzstempel and 3 different Ornament wheel or Rollpunzen were used. The horizontal strips were systematically with repeating itself, decorated like stamp patterns.

The optical separation of individual ornamental bands was, in particular using Rollpunzen realized by ribs and Treibwülste. In the ornamental bands are found mainly humpback and circular motifs that have a circular inner hump and are edged with up to six outer rings.

As a special feature, the occurrence of each unique ornamental band is composed of crescents lying to honor with female hump and underlying eye - or almond-shaped bumps. The apex is crowned by a eight-pointed, uncontoured star, whose background is underlined with dots bumps.

The shaft goes into a wide, vertically ribbed textured band on the cone base, which is provided with similar motives. In the area of a reinforcing strip of bronze hat goes from the cone base over the brim, which is also decorated with disc-shaped symbols.

Calendar function

Based on current knowledge, the cone- shaped gold hats of the type Schiffer city, including the Berlin Gold Hat belongs to a systematic series in number and type of data used in the various ornamental bands ornaments.

In this context, it has been found that on the gold hats probably astronomical calendar functions are mapped based on a lunisolar system. Because of this character lunisolar direct reading of time periods in lunar or solar units is therefore possible.

Since the accurate knowledge of the solar year for the definition of time points ritual significance as the summer or winter solstice was of particular importance, which took on the gold hats laid down astronomical knowledge in the Bronze Age society a particularly high priority. Whether they were actually used as a calendar, or whether they represent the underlying astronomical knowledge only, is unclear.

The date (July 2005) decrypted features include the ability to counting of periods up to a maximum of 57 months. By simple quadruple of these values ​​as well as the representation of time portions of a larger scale, such as the Metonic cycle is possible.

In each case represents one character or a single circular ring of a symbol one days dar. side ornament rings with symbols of different annulus number enter special characters and special symbols in so-called switching zones, which must be considered when calculating the above-mentioned periods of case should be counted or omitted to case.

The complete map of the integrated functions in the ornamentation is still pending. A schematic overview of the previously reconstructed calendar function and the representation of each of the periods on the Berlin Gold Hat shows the adjacent figure.

In principle, starting with the zone i, using an appropriate contiguous portion of adjacent n zones ornament Z_i Z_i .. n is a summation performed. Of this total, the number of symbols of one or more, occurring in the area of this section switching zones optionally removed to get to the corresponding value in solar and lunar time notation.

Shown in the figure on the left is the solar imaging mode, the right Ableseschema for the synodic ( lunar) months. The fields from zones 5, 7, 16 and 17 red or blue shown represent switching zones of the calendar system, are presented with those different long periods of time.

The values ​​assigned to the respective fields are the product of the number of symbols in each ornament zone and the number of species in the prevailing individual symbol circles or circular rings. The special symbols in zone 5, according to their number, the numerical value " 38 " is assigned.

The between the main symbols existing in the interstices, smaller ring circuits are viewed as decoration and not taken into account for the calculation.

Since a lunisolares calendar system was mapped to the gold hats, direct reading or Convert to lunar or solar units is possible.

For the presentation of the tables in each yellow marked, counted by days solar or lunar maximum period of time, the values ​​in the column above it colored marked fields are to be added to a section sum. Join here highlighted in red switching zones, the sum of these values ​​indicated in red is deducted from the total section. Thus, the mapping of time slots with a maximum length of 12, 24, 36, 48, 54 and 57 synodic ( Moon ) months lunar system of 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 and 57, solar months (as twelfth part of a tropical year ) in the solar system possible.

Which occurs with the accounting difference of 2 days astronomically correct value results from the Bronze Age observation of synodic and solar month Accuracy length.

Location and History Fund

The Berlin Gold Hat was founded in 1995 offered on the international art market and bought up in 1996 as a Bronze Age artifact from the Museum of Pre -and Early History. According to the seller the piece originally came from an anonymous Swiss collector, which was built in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century. It is believed that the Berlin Gold Hat was found in southern Germany or Switzerland. Further details about the Fund circumstances are not known. From the state of the gold foil cone but can be assumed that he - was buried in an upright position and filled with earth or ashes in the ground - similar to the Golden Hat by Schiffer city.

Production

Applying the gold weight of the cone, taking into account the lack of brim in the dimensions of a square-shaped gold ingot, can be calculated a gold cube of less than three centimeters edge length as the starting material. This gold ingot was forged during the machining process have an average wall thickness of 0.6 mm.

The material of the golden hat solidifies with increasing degree of deformation and then tends to crack. To avoid these cracks a particularly uniform deformation during reforge was required. In addition, the work piece during the manufacturing process had to be repeatedly annealed at at least 750 ° C.

Here, due to the low melting temperature of the gold alloy ( 960 ° C), a very precise temperature control and a uniform heating of the device was required to prevent the melting of the surface. For this operation, the Bronze Age artisans used a charcoal fire or oven similar to the kilns for pottery, whose temperature could be controlled, however, only limited by bellows- assisted delivery of oxygen.

Taking into account these characteristics of the material used and the modest technical means of communication, but the production of a undecorated component of such thin gold sheet, already constitute a formidable craft performance

As part of the further processing of the Berlin Gold Hat was provided with radial ornamental bands. To this end, the hollow inner body was probably - like the Golden Hat by Schiffer city - in order to stabilize filled with a suitable Goldschmiedekitt based on tree resin and wax, and the thin gold sheet from the outside by repeated pressing of a total of 17 different Negativpunzen and unrolling of 3 different Rollpunzen in the present form structured.

Whereabouts

The Berlin Gold Hat is located in the "New Museum " in Berlin and represents a core of the Bronze Age collection