Posted on 06/05/2006 4:27:51 PM PDT by blam
Native Americans recorded supernova explosion
16:45 05 June 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Zeeya Merali and Kelly Young
The Arizonan petroglyph may depict the supernova of 1006 AD - the star symbol is on the right and the constellation Scorpius on the left (Image: John Barentine, Apache Point Observatory)
This double-sun petroglyph at Chaco Canyon National Monument in New Mexico may depict the supernova of 4 July 1054 (Image: Mark Lansing)
There are numerous examples of rock art in the Chaco Canyon National Monument depicting celestial objects (Image: Mark Lansing)
Prehistoric Native Americans may have carved a record of a supernova explosion that appeared in the skies a millennium ago into a rock in Arizona, US.
John Barentine, an astronomer at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, came across the carving while hiking in the White Tank Mountain Regional Park in Arizona.
It depicts a scorpion and an eight-pointed star. "I had just been reading about the supernova of AD 1006 and I knew it appeared in the constellation Scorpius, so the connection flashed into my mind."
To make his case, Barentine and his colleague Gilbert A. Esquerdo, at the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, used planetarium software to recreate the sky as it would have appeared in Arizona during the supernova's appearance and overlaid it with photographs from the site.
The supernova would have been brighter than a planet, and both it and the constellation - which is shaped like a scorpion - would have appeared just above the edge of the rock, in the same orientation depicted in the carvings. Native Americans populated the region during that period and often recorded objects thought to have magical powers, says Barentine.
"It's by no means conclusive, but I think it's strong circumstantial evidence that the art depicts the supernova," says Barentine. He announced his theory at the American Astronomical Society Meeting in Calgary, in Alberta, Canada, on Monday.
Star watchers
The supernova was recorded by star watchers in Asia, the Middle-East and Europe. But until now, nobody thought that prehistoric Native Americans followed events in the sky. "I don't think enough credit has been given to the ancient Native Americans in the past, but that might change now," Barentine told New Scientist.
If the art does represent the supernova, it would provide a useful date to help work out the age of neighbouring rock carvings, which are difficult to assess by other methods, says Barentine.
But the White Tank Mountain is not the first suspected supernova petroglyph in North America. A petroglyph at Chaco Canyon National Monument in New Mexico may depict the supernova of 4 July 1054.
Another petroglyph at White Tank may also be a recording of the AD 1054 supernova. White Tank Mountain park ranger Mark Lansing says that petroglyph looks like colliding suns and is nestled in a back canyon along with pictures of other celestial objects.
"The AD 1006 petroglyph is a little more abstract," Lansing says of Barentine's find. "I'd seen his petroglyph but not really related it to the sky for 1006. He does show what the sky may have looked like in AD 1006."
I"ve wondered that for decades - why isn't the rich history of the North American continents native civilizations taught in schools more than just as a passing glance -
Gibson is finally making a movie on one such civilization - the Mayans. Unfortunately, from what I've read, he is injecting the human sacrificing of other groups, like the Aztecs, that really isn't evident, only speculated because of the mind set of most archaeologists, as to the Mayan/
Disappointing...
I see a record of the fabulous grudge match of the Scorpion (ctr. left) and the Tarantula ( ctr. low note the 8 legs) which was refereed by the Bull (ctr. rt.).
The smaller 8 legged figure just above the Bull and the Tarantula was the ring girl.
The stick figure to the rt. of the Bull indicates that they are in round two. Note the open triangle representing the priceless World Bug Trophy.
Anyone who has done the sacred Peyote knows this. Just ask Carlos Castenada, he saw it all.
They certainly did - Took us years to finally be able to decode them -
"writing system of the Pre-Columbian New World that can completely represent spoken language to the same degree as the written language of the old world. ...........Folding tree books were made from fig tree bark and placed in royal tombs. Unfortunately, many of these books did not survive the humidity of the tropics or the invasion of the Spanish, who regarded the symbolic writing as the work of the devil. "
and they burned all they could find.
link
http://www.crystalinks.com/mayanwriting.html
If you count Egyptian hieroglyphics as writing then all the hieroglyphics from here should count too.
The evidence of Mayan sacrifice and following Venus as a war god is quite compelling.
In school I was taught the Mayan were a very peaceful utopian society.
Umm -- because the first thing that comes to mind when you view that part of the sky is a scorpion, with its curled tail and pincers?
here's another try
Actually, I stick to the dates in the Vedas themselves. Did you know that one of the Vedic sages (was it Atri?) descibed a stellar event which I cannot for the life of me remember, which computers have now figured out happened 26,000 years ago?
Here, take a look:
Geoff's Photography - Scorpio, Mars and the Milky Way
http://home.iprimus.com.au/rsims/stars08.htm
Besides, the names and myths are also similar.
No, can you give a little more info so I can google?
not sure what you mean. Are you implying that because the outline doesn't jump out you (personally, I have a hard time seeing most of the 'figures' on the constellations) - that the Native Americans would probably not have been able to make out a shape - while the Old country civilizations could?
Very sensible statement. I agree.
No, I am saying that the scorpion shape is not obvious. See my post 49.
I am also saying that there is more evidence of contact or continuity with Old World since the names and associated myths are also similar. See my post 37 for a sample.
Do you have a mouse in your pocket?
....since when?
Hmmm.. I always thought 'prehistoric Native Americans' observed the sky closely. I've read many stories about pics on their stones that resemble astronaut, star ships, etc...
I concur.
Seriously. Even two closely related cultures as the United States and Great Britain see constellations differently. We see a big dipper and they see a plow.
you are probably familiar with the posits about the remnants of the Greenland communities, driven out of the area in front of the mini-ice age - who may have threaded thru the waters of Canada and the Great Lakes and ended up assimilating with the Mandans and others?
I have my own theories about the Norsemen and the People of the Longhouse - upper N.Y. - Onondagas, etc. The very Viking looking longhouses? And the Native Americans who were taller than many other clans?
Exactly.
To most Americans, it's known as the Big Dipper.
It has been frequently commented that Eastern Woodland Indians have facial feature that are distinctly European.
I wouldn't have any problem with contact, even 2 way contact.
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