Cosmologies:
     Supernovae are the violent death of massive stars.  A supernova can shine brighter than entire galaxies (Kaufmann p552). The Supernova of 1054AD, was a massive explosion in space that created the Crab Nebula.  It was bright enough to see even during the day for twenty three days following July fifth 1054AD (Peterson p.396).  The supernova was observed and recorded in China and Japan.(Kaufmann p.568)  There is speculation as to weather supernova was seen in Europe as well because it was brighter than Venus the morning star there are no records of the stellar explosion (Garfinkle p.24).  The supernova was noted just before sunrise in China by an astronomer named Yang Wei-T'e (Kaufmann p.552).  The supernova was referred to as the guest star(Kaufmann, p.568).  For a long time the Chinese and Japanese records of the supernova were the only records of the explosion (Garfinkle p.24). However, archeologists have discovered evidence that the supernova of 1054AD was also seen and recorded by Native Americans in the south-west region of North America (Peterson p.396). The Mimbres people of the Mimbres Valley New Mexico saw the supernova that created the Crab Nebula and recorded it on their pottery (Garfinkle).  The Supernova Bowl and other Mimbres ceramic bowls were predominately used to cover the faces of the dead (Peterson p.396).
     The Mimbres pottery has a definite style, the bowls are round and shallow and are designed to fit over the face (Peterson P396).  Produced between 1000AD and 1150AD the painting on the bowls is done in geometric designs that can serve as the border (as in the supernova bowl)or be the entire piece (Gilman p.1).  These designs are classically done in black and white, which, is one of the defying characteristics of "Classic Mimbres" pottery (Gilman p1).  The Mimbres would use animals to represent celestial bodies, the moon, for example was often portrayed in the south-west as a rabbit (Peterson p.396).
     There is some controversy about the exact origin and meaning of the Mimbres pottery (Gilman p.2).  The older more established idea is that the pottery came only from the Mimbres Valley and was distributed selectively through trade (Gilman p.2). This hypothesis speculates that the pottery was a symbol of status and only certain people made the pottery and or astronomers (Peterson p.396).  This model suggests that the people of the south-west region of New Mexico had a class based, hierarchical society and the privileged section of society produced the pottery (Peterson p.396).  This archetype is based on the evidence that the higher quality pieces are found in the localized area of the Mimbres Valley and there are higher concentrations of the pottery in certain burial grounds than others (Gilman p.9).  However, Mimbres pottery is found all over the south-west and in many different sites (Gilman p.8). The newer and more plausible idea is that Mimbres society was decentralized and there was relative equality.  The pottery was made by any one who wanted or had the skill (Gilman p.9).  Analysis of the mineral make up of the clay that the pottery is made of implies that the pieces found in different burial sites were used locally ruling out trade (Gilman p.9).
     The piece of Mimbers Pottery that illustrates the supernova in 1054AD is about 900 years old and was found by a University of Texas Astronomy professor and one of his students in New Mexico(Garfinkle p.24).  The image on the bowl that depicts the supernova is a rabbit reaching out for a star with twenty three rays (Peterson p.396).  Most Mimbers depiction's of stars have between four and six rays which immediately sets the supernova bowl apart from the rest (Garfinkle p.24).  The reason there are twenty three rays is that the supernova was visible during daylight for twenty-three days (Peterson p.396).  This is consistent with the Chinese and Japanese records (Garfield p24). The rabbit symbolizes the waning crescent moon, which is reaching for the supernova.  This symbolized where the supernova was visible on the first night, about two degrees below the moon (Garfinkle p.24).  This was a break through find because previously there had been no record of the supernova outside of Japan and China (Garfinkle p.24).  The Mimbres were regular astronomers and captured many astronomical events on pottery.  However, the discovery of the supernova bowl did what science does best weather it is physics, astronomy or archeology does best, it dislodges our set models of understanding the world. In this case with the discovery that some of the most astute of the early astronomers lived not only in Asia but also in North America. (Garfinkle p.24)