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."
Interesting...probably got associated that way because mother scorpions haul their babies around on their backs--quick & easy way to sex a scorpion. (I darn sure don't wanna be lifting their tail!)
Where did Sanskrit originate? Is it still spoken?
Stephen
Mountain View, California
Dear Stephen:
The Sanskrit language first emerged around 2,000 to 1,000 B.C.E. (before the common era). It's one of the oldest languages still in existence, and linguists have grouped it with the Indo-European languages, such as French, German, and English, which may share a common ancestor language. It isn't entirely clear where Sankrit originated, but it probably came from the Indus Valley, in what is now Pakistan and northwestern India.
Since its beginning, Sanskrit has been used primarily by people in the upper classes of society. Educated, high-ranking men and religious scholars spoke and wrote Sanskrit, while most people used other languages (some of which may have developed from Sanskrit). The Vedas, the oldest sacred writings of Hinduism, were written in an early form of Sanskrit, now called Vedic Sanskrit.
Sometime between the seventh and fourth centuries B.C.E., the grammarian Panini standardized the language into a new form, referred to as Classical Sanskrit -- this is the Sanskrit still used today. In addition to the Vedas, many religious works, influential Indian poetry and drama, and early scientific and mathematic documents were originally written in Sanskrit.
In India today, Sanskrit is still a language of higher education and is not commonly spoken, much like classical Latin and Greek in European societies. Sanskrit is one of the 18 official languages of India, even though less than 50,000 people spoke it as of India's 1991 census. In comparison, the most common language, Hindi, is spoken by 30% of India's population of over one billion people.
India's Department of Education promotes the study of Sanskrit in schools throughout the country. Some scholars believe that every Indian language is related to Sanskrit, so learning Sanskrit can be an important background for further education. But Sanskrit has its detractors who say that it's an elitist, archaic language.
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020626.html
Because they didn't have common written histories?
there were Indian civilizations that had written histories, including bark leaf books - unfortunately, few survived the Conquistadors and time.
And it has been only recently, time wise, that scholars cracked the code and are able to translate...
Other clans/tribes across the lands had their own methods of keeping their histories, including oral history. A history is a history = and therefore, not prehistoric....even if someone would like to paint it so.
Yes, I am familiar with one of those female scorpion deities. When I toured the Tutankhamen exhibit in Seattle in the 70's one of the most charming artifacts there was the exquisite, little foot-high gilt statue of Selket:
(Note her scorpion headdress...)
The 1006 Supernova is the brightest on record. It was bright as the half Moon at magnitude -9 to -10. It was visible in the daytime. It happened near the star Beta Lupi. The remnant is really faint and is detected through a radio telescope. Later in that century, in 1054, another supernova exploded, which is now the Crab Nebula in Taurus. I have seen that object before through my telescope. I wrote about this supernova.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1557884/posts
LOL! Garfield hated spiders.
Saw it earlier. Thanks for the link.
"The oldest example of written language is also either hebrew or egyptian, depending on which dating you trust."
I thought it was cuneiform clay tablets from Sumeria.
"Maybe they devolved, but not much. BTW, the winning word in the national spelling bee was Ursprache, which we are now allowed to use as if it were an English word rather than German."
Well, the 19th Century English linguists' equivalent word: "Edenic", is too easy to be a winning word in a spelling bee!
BUMP!
1006 AD Supernova (Vanity)
Posted on 01/13/2006 7:51:03 PM PST by Ptarmigan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1557884/posts
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The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes:
Flood, Fire, and Famine
in the History of Civilization
by Richard Firestone,
Allen West, and
Simon Warwick-Smith
A 9 year bump. Is that a record?
Heh, not even close. The record is probably 17? 15?
... or, all peoples have a common and relatively recent origin with the flood not being legend and symbology such as constellation imagery stems from shared knowledge as a result of that common, relatively recent origin.
Can’t have that, though so we get half-baked theories instead. Who knows, maybe there’s a “multiverse” where the various sciences don’t invent dodges to avoid agreeing with Christianity.
In that same vein
Why are there so many prehistoric rock paintings or etchings of space alien looking creatures both in Australia and the Nazca basin or northern Peru?
Did they witness something that long ago
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