Case file · Cosmic event
Burzahom 'sky chart' carving
A Neolithic stone from Burzahom, Kashmir, showing a hunting scene with two bright discs, has been read by Tata Institute researchers as the oldest record of a supernova.
2,100 BCE · 34.17, 74.88 · status: disputed
The account
Mayank Vahia's team (2013, publicised in 2018) matched the discs to the supernova HB9, about 4600 BCE, near Orion and Taurus. The stone was found reused in a house dated to around 2100 BCE, the year given here.
The sceptical view
The authors found no other sky charts among Burzahom's carvings, and the match may be coincidence; the traditional reading is two suns or moons in a hunt.