Crab Supernova Rock Art

Abstract

“Star” and crescent combinations in rock art in the American Southwest were first interpreted in 1955 as eyewitness depictions of the 1054 AD supernova explosion that produced the Crab nebula. While the Crab nebula is visible only telescopically, the event that generated it was brilliant, and for a time, only the sun and moon were brighter. Additional Crab supernova candidates in California and Southwest rock art were suggested 20 years later, and they included Chaco Canyon’s Penasco Blanco pictograph panel, which became the poster child for Crab supernova rock art and is now called “Supernova” on signage at the site. By 1979, a list of 21 Crab supernova rock art sites was assembled, and the inventory has continued to expand more slowly since then. This critical review of the supernova interpretation of star/crescent rock art, the product of 35 years of fieldwork, required an independent re-examination of all of the primary sites in person. That enterprise has already demonstrated that the Tenabo, New Mexico panel does not illustrate the Crab supernova and that the two Arizona sites on which the entire supernova rock art premise is based (White Mesa and “Navaho Canyon”) are unlikely records of the event. This detailed evaluation of the primary proposed star/crescent images indicates none is a satisfactory portrayal of the striking 1054 AD supernova.

Symbolism and Archaeoastronomy in Prehistory

“…However, care must be taken not to project our own modern biases unto the symbolic representations of other societies (e.g. Krupp 2015). In a similar way to case study 3, several are the megalithic monuments where light and shadow were harnessed and integrated into the architecture -Newgrange (Prendergast 2011) and Maeshowe (Hedges 1984) are perhaps the most notorious international examples.…”

“…Many such cases have been the object of critique mostly because of the projection of ethnocentric and anachronistic modern skyscapes unto non-modern peoples (e.g. Carlson 1987, Hayden and Villeneuve 2011, Krupp 2015. Nevertheless, the utterly visual experience of the sky is undeniable, and it stands to reason that some iconographic motifs might indeed represent celestial bodies, but those representations won't necessarily be immediately obvious to the non-anthropologist, as art is so often produced through a socio-cultural lens (e.g.…”

Fitting the Crab Supernova with a Gamma-Ray Burst

“…Starting from 1955, a series of rock art items associated with the Crab Supernova have been studied, and recently, E. C. Krupp (2015) [19] reviewed them. The dimensions of the asterism associated with the Supernova always appear to be big compared to the Moon, so the association with a "normal galactic Supernova" was excluded [19].…”

Skyscapes Beyond the Horizon

“…Of these, each presents, collectively or individually, its own challenges to the modern scholar who tries to unravel them. For example, it is easy to fall prey to anachronism when it comes to symbolism, as imagery similar to modern Western depictions of celestial objects have been interpreted as such, often without any culturally contextualised supporting evidence (as noted, for example, by Krupp 2015).…”