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Outlook: 'A little bit Indiana Jones'

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27/04/2022 GMT

'A little bit Indiana Jones'

BBC World Service - Outlook, 'A little bit Indiana Jones'

The archaeologist who risked his life for a mysterious prehistoric artefact

Archaeologist Harald Meller heard of an artefact depicting the sky and knew it could change our thinking about prehistoric people - but he had to recover it from the black market.

Archaeologist Harald Meller believes we underestimate the intelligence and culture of prehistoric people. Fascinated by the ancient world since childhood, he's now based at the Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Germany. In 2001, a chance visit to a colleague in Berlin resulted in him hearing about a unique ancient artefact that had come to light: a spellbindingly beautiful metal disc illustrated with depictions of the stars and the sun. 

Looking at photos of the disc, Harald knew immediately that it was important - and that it could change everything we thought we knew about astronomy in the prehistoric era. There was just one snag: it was in the hands of the wrong people. Today on Outlook, he tells Mobeen Azhar about how he became the front man in a daring police operation to recover what would become known as the Nebra Sky Disc from the black market. 

Also in today's programme: Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia, who died last week, was the first woman to document the so-called Mafia wars in Sicily. She spoke to Outlook in 2017. 

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar

(Photo: The Nebra Sky Disk. Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Image)

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