Mysterious copper plates baffle archaeologists

These 20 cm in diameter copper plates were discovered two years ago during the still ongoing excavations, very close to robbed and open graves, at the Hippos necropolis, near the Sea of Galilee.

Archaeologists completely ignored them at first, as they look rather modern at first glance, but they still don't know the meaning or the utility of what appears to be maybe decorative incision.



Israeli archaeologist Dr. Michael Eisenberg of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, Israel, who directs the Hippos Excavation Project ask this question for everyone willing to reply: "Has anyone encountered such plates and if so, do you know if they were set on wooden coffins?"


Aerial view of Hippos-Sussita, near which the plates were found. Courtesy Michael Eisenberg and the Hippos Excavation Project

As the necropolis has not yet been systematically excavated, the age and specific context of the plates could not be determined. Eisenberg states that the age of the necropolis may likely fall within the broad Hellenistic-Byzantine time range, as does the nearby Hippos-Sussita polis, which has been extensively excavated. But they were found outside of graves, not inside, so it is difficult to determine the provenance as they could not be associated with surrounding artifacts and human remains within the internments.

Read the whole article at "popular archeology"

Any idea, dear ATS friends, of what could have been the utility of these copper disks?

reply to post by elevenaugust


I'd like to know what they look like vertically. Were they trying to manipulate a flying saucer?

They kinda look like rotors for car breaks.

Weird.

reply to post by elevenaugust


They look like wheels.
With the holes in the center I could see that they could be fastened onto something like a wagon or similar? It would be so small though..

reply to post by elevenaugust


Fascinating stuff,

Maybe they were "candle" holders it a lamp of some sort used in a burial ritual.

I think those are very old. It looks like they may have been antiques already when they were reused. Can anyone identify the symbols on them? They may not be relevent to the time, the marking may be a lot older and out of context. Some ancient burials had the inclusion of a breastplate over the chest made of float copper that had been hammered. They speculate about the reason but in essence the real reason may not be known.

I wonder if the copper used in them was smelted or whether they were hammered out of float copper, both systems were still used even after smelting was learned..

Could be parts of a sundial too, the notches seem evenly spaced. The symbols are common to many cultures. I see a triangle, V, and X

look someone made disc brakes and forgot to put the studs holes in.

Amazing though.,

I was thinking maybe a sand clock.

My first thought was records. They should begin trying to get sound from them.

reply to post by elevenaugust



They remind me of the size and shape of candle stick holders, I know BORING huh...

reminds me of these.



i tried to find some with the bottom facing the camera.

just a quick side note, Zildjian the oldest cymbals mfg is from turkey

ETA:
just found a set of hand held cymbals. notice the cup in the center.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


I actually thought of that but they appear thicker and there is nothing said about tempering. I guess there is nothing really said about thickness either after looking it over again. They don't want anyone else figuring it out, they are restricting information so we can't figure it out, just give them ideas so they can come to a conclusion..

They look kind of like Gnomons to me.

Where the changes in the suns latitude in the sky
are marked by where the shadow falls
during different days of the year.







Of course Gnomons, or sun dials, are known
throughout the ancient world. The key for me
are the holes in the center of all four copper plates.

Perhaps there was one Gnomon and each plate was slipped over it,
to record shadows and then they could be removed and stored,
or retrieved and compared to the shadows on different days.

Sort of like a Read/Writeable disc of the ancient astronomers.








Even the Aztec Calendar stone
has these types of markings around the outside of it.


/my two cents
Mike Grouchy

Originally posted by hounddoghowlie
reminds me of these.

i tried to find some with the bottom facing the camera.

just a quick side note, Zildjian the oldest cymbals mfg is from turkey

ETA:
just found a set of hand held cymbals. notice the cup in the center.

hounddoghowlie,

That's awesome!
Cymbals, of course.
Some real "music of the spheres" going on there.


Mike Grouchy

reply to post by rickymouse


also for grouchy

Byzantine, is what made the main connection. at first thought about cymbals and then thought could copper be used, but when i saw Byzantine and knowing that Zildjian is a cymbal mfg based in turkey, thats about 500 yrs old. i thought that they had to learn it from some where.

Looks like shield cover plate thingies.

Calvary shields to be exact. These probably had a spike in the center.

I'm leaning more toward cymbals or the center part of a shield

So either someone buried them with their watch on or they were buried with a cymbal of their profession

See: The DROPA Stones-China

"DROPA" plates/stones in the last 50 yrs or so were discovered and found in caves in China. They look similar, with the Chinese plates have script radiating around the edges to and/or from the center hole. Like old record albums.

DROPA stones can be easily researched, as can be the legends of the lost Extra-Terrestials supposedly crash landed-trapped on Earth, waiting for rescue.

been thinking about what ricky said about thickness.

look what i found on this wiki page.Cymbal

look how thick the thing is. and other than the corrosion, it's pretty close to the same color. although it's bronze i think it's pretty close



ETA:
better shot

I love anything that baffles archaeologists!

I'm going to guess it's an oil lamp top, and the hole is where the wick comes out. Any small bowl made of pretty much any material could be used to hold the oil and the mystery object is kind of a "universal" wick holder.

That's mah guess.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


I'm going to Rush tonight. Sorry to go off topic I was inspired by your sig pic.

Back on topic, mystery objects are cool!