Calendrical Stations in Chaco Canyon (original) (raw)
Related papers
Kiva, 2021
In this paper, we combine evidence from archaeology, landscape, astronomy, and Indigenous oral traditions to propose that Chaco Canyon was established as a regionally influential sun-moon-rain shrine beginning in the Basketmaker III period. We review the Basketmaker III archaeological record of Chaco Canyon with emphasis on Shábik'e'eshchί (29 SJ 1659), Woodpecker (29 SJ 423), and Coyote Point (29 SJ 299), a site near Fajada Butte. We suggest Shábik'e'eshchί and Woodpecker were specifically positioned to provide views of the winter solstice sunrise in alignment with Chaco Canyon's trajectory, which, together with the presence of Fajada Butte and Chaco's position in the center of the San Juan Basin, combined to establish the canyon as a unique sacred locale. We also present narratives from the Diné (Navajo) Waterway (Tóyeejí) and Navajo Windway (Diné Biníl / ch'ijí) Ceremonies that emphasize the importance of Fajada Butte, solar-lunar astronomy, and rainmaking in Chacoan history to support this scenario.
Ancestors and the sun: astronomy, architecture and culture at Chaco Canyon
Three architectural traditions with astronomical associations have been identified among the ‘Great Houses’ and ‘Great Kivas’ of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Great Houses and one Great Kiva built during the height of construction activity (AD 1020–1100), the Bonito Phase, include front-facing south-southeast (SSE) orientations, and cardinal north-south and/or east-west (NS/EW) alignments. We present ethnographic material supporting our previous proposal that the SSE orientation is probably linked to migration traditions and ancestor veneration. We also confirm that a majority of Late Bonito Phase Great Houses (built after A.D. 1100) exhibit a third astronomical tradition: five of the principal in-canyon Great Houses built at that time were positioned at or near observing locations that could have functioned as solstice calendrical stations. Through use of these locations for public ceremonies, the Chacoan elite could demonstrate astronomical knowledge and ritual power. These findings provide support for Van Dyke’s hypothesis that construction during this period was intended to reinvigorate a faltering system. One ‘Chaco halo’ Great House, Bis sa’ani, incorporates all three traditions. We suggest that temporal analysis of these traditions improves understanding of migration paths and shifting balances of power and social dominance among ancestral Pueblo culture groups.
The Astronomical Context of the Archaeology and Architecture of the Chacoan Culture
Astronomical analysis of 10th to 12th century A.D. cultural evidence at Chaco Canyon New Mexico began in the 1970s. Published work includes a variety of proposals including horizon calendars, solar calendrical constructs in architecture, cardinal North-South and/or East-West (NS/EW) alignments of architecture and roads, building alignments to lunar standstills or June solstice sunrise, wall alignments to equinox sunrise or sunset, and the positioning of structures at observation points for horizon calendrical stations. Within the published archaeoastronomy work attention to Pueblo ethnography, archaeological evidence including temporal data, statistical significance, and the consideration of multiple hypotheses has varied widely. The sample of Chacoan Great Houses assessed for astronomical associations was unchanged from the mid 1990s to 2007. There is active debate among archaeologists regarding the relative importance of political, ritual, and economic factors in the Chacoan regional system. Past archaeoastronomy work has had limited influence on such debate. Nonetheless, there is general acceptance among archaeologists of the idea that visual astronomy had a role in Chacoan culture, if for no other reason than to provide a calendrical system. This research expands on previous samples of Chacoan Great Houses to include all those identified within “downtown Chaco,” as well as a small sample of “halo” and “outlier” Great Houses. The field work, conducted under National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management permits, included compass survey, theodolite survey, and photography at a total of 28 sites. Survey results were assessed in the context of positional astronomy, Pueblo ethnography, and the archaeological record including published construction dates for the sites. I found no convincing evidence for previously proposed architectural alignments to lunar standstills, June solstice sunrises, or equinox events. I have found that a majority of the studied Chacoan structures to conform to one or more of four architectural traditions that have astronomical associations. These include front-facing south-southeast (SSE) orientation, front facing east-southeast (ESE) orientation, alignments to the cardinal directions of North-South and/or East-West (NS/EW), and the construction of Great Houses at workable calendrical stations with horizon foresights for solstice dates. Multiple Great Houses exhibit two of these traditions in combination. A single case is identified that may incorporate three of the traditions. The “halo” Great House at Bis sa’ani includes a cardinal North-South and East-West (“NS/EW”) structure, a possible SSE-facing room block, and a June solstice sunrise horizon foresight. Building upon Hayes’ and Lekson’s assessments of orientations, temporal analysis of these four traditions may improve our understanding of shifting patterns of multi-cultural collaboration and dominance among ancestral Pueblo groups. A majority of the Great Houses built before A.D. 1000 are front-facing to the SSE. The SSE orientation tradition continued during the peak of Bonito Phase construction activity (A.D. 1020-1100). Most of the putative lunar standstill and June solstice sunrise alignments comprise a subset of this SSE facing group. During the same period, the first cardinal NS and EW architectural alignments were also completed. Four ESE facing Great Houses were constructed within and in proximity to Chaco between A.D. 860 and A.D. 1090. This third orientation tradition may represent some form of cultural affiliation with contemporary Rio Grande Valley people based upon comparison to previous orientation studies conducted by Lakatos, or it may perhaps represent an alternative cosmological intent. The “new” Great Houses built during the Late Bonito phase at Chaco after A.D. 1100 are all either involved in inter-site cardinal NS alignments, or positioned at or in proximity to observing locations that can function as solstice calendrical stations. Workable solstice horizon calendars are now confirmed at Casa Chiquita, Kin Kletso, Headquarters Site A, Wijiji, Bis sa’ani, and 125 m from Roberts Small Pueblo at 29SJ 2538/2539. A potential calendrical station located in the vicinity of Peñasco Blanco’s McElmo ruin is yet to be confirmed. The Late Bonito “calendrical” Great Houses may have been intended as pilgrimage destinations where people could witness a dramatic solstice sunrise or sunset. During the same time period, SSE orientation was dominant in the Totah region to the north at sites including Aztec and Chimney Rock. The astronomical evidence presented supports the idea that people with at least three distinct cosmological intents collaborated at Chaco; it also supports Van Dyke’s hypothesis that Late Bonito phase construction at Chaco represented an attempt by a weakened ritual elite to reinvigorate their legitimacy and power. The consistency of cosmological and solstitial references among Late Bonito Phase Great Houses at Chaco indicates that the Late Bonito Chacoan elite’s power may have rested in part on esoteric astronomical knowledge, and an elevated cultural status for solar events. Under the terms of a U.S. National Park Service field research permit some location- specific site data has been deliberately redacted from this document, as required by the U.S. Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.
Laboratory of Anthropology note, 1967
Museum of New Mexico MNM Project no. 48.01 (61.10). Navajo Indian Irrigation Project Chuska Project Also issued as Museum of New Mexico Research Records ; no. 4. Title differs slghtly and is as follows: "An archaeological survey of the Chuska Valley and the Chaco Plateau, New Mexico : Part I. Natural science studies". Total number of pages varies between the two publications with the Museum of New Mexico Research Records ; no. 4 having 144 pages which this Laboratory of Anthropology note ; no. 216a has 156 pages. Summary: "A salvage archaeology program conducted by the Museum of New Mexico in cooperation with the National Park Service, Southwest Region, Department of the Interior, in the Navajo Irrigation District of the Upper Colorado Storage Project".--[Preamble]. "The papers assembled in this volume are the first to be published in a projected long-range interdisciplinary research program focusing on the extensive archaeological remains found within and adjacent to the 100,000-acre Navajo Indian Irrigation Project currently being developed in northwestern New Mexico. In 1963-1964, during the course of an archaeological reconnaissance of this area, a total of 1697 sites were recorded ...."--Introduction. Archaeological surveying Ecology Geology Lithic analysis Pottery analysis Pottery technology Animal remains (Archaeology) Faunal analysis Vertebrates Plant remains (Archaeology) Palynology Ancestral Pueblo culture Chaco culture Precontact period Historic period Colorado Plateau Chuska Mountains (Ariz. and N.M.) Chuska Valley (N.M.) San Juan County (N.M.) Shiprock (N.M.) -- LA 5844 | -- LA 5855 | -- LA 7013 | -- LA 7015 | -- LA 7037 | -- LA 7039 | -- LA 7052 | -- LA 7070 | -- LA 7078 | -- LA 7080 | -- LA 7161 | -- LA 7182 | -- LA 7184 | -- LA 7193 | -- LA 7195 | -- LA 7198 | -- LA 7207 | -- LA 7210 | -- LA 7212 | -- LA 7215 | -- LA 7222 | -- LA 7228 | -- LA 7267 | -- LA 7277 | -- LA 7645 | -- LA 7737 | -- LA 7750 | -- LA 7823 | -- LA 7834 | -- LA 7850 | -- LA 7851 | -- LA 7854 | -- LA 7855 | -- LA 7856 | -- LA 7868 | -- LA 8541 | -- LA 8546 | -- LA 8547 | -- LA 8551 | -- LA 8553 | -- LA 8647
In 2006 an interdisciplinary team, coordinated by the Solstice Project, produced an interactive computer graphics model that precisely replicates the astronomical functioning of an ancient calendrical site, the Sun Dagger, of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. The interactive, three-dimensional format of this digital model provides opportunities for extensive research of the structure's light patterns, as well as its geometry and the process of its original development. At the Sun Dagger site, which Anna Sofaer rediscovered in 1977, three upright sandstone slabs cast precise light and shadow patterns on two spiral petroglyphs, recording the summer and winter solstices, the equinoxes, and the 18.6-year lunar cycle (Sinclair et al. 1987; Sofaer and Sinclair 1987; Sofaer, Sinclair, and Doggett 1982; Sofaer, Zinser, and Sinclair 1979; figures 3.1–3.4). This site is located on a southeastern-facing cliff near the top of the 135-m-high Fajada Butte, which stands prominently at the south entrance of Chaco Canyon. The rediscovery of the Sun Dagger site was followed by intense visitation. This activity caused acceleration of the process of natural erosion at the site, which, in turn, caused significant shifts in the positions of the slabs and the light markings. Thus the precise archival replication of the Sun Dagger site allows appreciation and study of its astronomical functioning that can no longer be observed or recorded.
Museum of New Mexico. Research records, 1967
Museum of New Mexico MNM Project no. 48.01 (61.10). Navajo Indian Irrigation Project Chuska Project Prepared as "Laboratory of Anthropology note ; no. 216a". Title differs slghtly and is as follows, Museum of New Mexico. Research records title: "An archaeological survey of the Chuska Valley and the Chaco Plateau, New Mexico : Part I. Natural science studies". Total number of pages varies between the two publications with the Museum of New Mexico Research Records ; no. 4 having 144 pages. Laboratory of Anthropology note ; no. 216a has 156 pages. Summary: "A salvage archaeology program conducted by the Museum of New Mexico in cooperation with the National Park Service, Southwest Region, Department of the Interior, in the Navajo Irrigation District of the Upper Colorado Storage Project".--[Preamble]. "The papers assembled in this volume are the first to be published in a projected long-range interdisciplinary research program focusing on the extensive archaeological remains found within and adjacent to the 100,000-acre Navajo Indian Irrigation Project currently being developed in northwestern New Mexico. In 1963-1964, during the course of an archaeological reconnaissance of this area, a total of 1697 sites were recorded ...."--Introduction. Archaeological surveying Ecology Geology Lithic analysis Pottery analysis Pottery technology Animal remains (Archaeology) Faunal analysis Vertebrates Plant remains (Archaeology) Palynology Ancestral Pueblo culture Chaco culture Precontact period Historic period Colorado Plateau Chuska Mountains (Ariz. and N.M.) Chuska Valley (N.M.) San Juan County (N.M.) Shiprock (N.M.) -- LA 5844 | -- LA 5855 | -- LA 7013 | -- LA 7015 | -- LA 7037 | -- LA 7039 | -- LA 7052 | -- LA 7070 | -- LA 7078 | -- LA 7080 | -- LA 7161 | -- LA 7182 | -- LA 7184 | -- LA 7193 | -- LA 7195 | -- LA 7198 | -- LA 7207 | -- LA 7210 | -- LA 7212 | -- LA 7215 | -- LA 7222 | -- LA 7228 | -- LA 7267 | -- LA 7277 | -- LA 7645 | -- LA 7737 | -- LA 7750 | -- LA 7823 | -- LA 7834 | -- LA 7850 | -- LA 7851 | -- LA 7854 | -- LA 7855 | -- LA 7856 | -- LA 7868 | -- LA 8541 | -- LA 8546 | -- LA 8547 | -- LA 8551 | -- LA 8553 | -- LA 8647
A prehistoric Native American pictograph that signals the summer solstice
Archeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies, 2021
The current article examines a 90 cm. tall, prehistoric Native American pictograph painted in red ochre which depicts a red Anthropomorph wearing a "V"-shaped headdress. For a seven-day period at the summer solstice the face and headdress of the red Anthropomorph are illuminated with sunlight. The authors proffer photographic, archaeological, and iconographic evidence confirming that the pictograph was made by the prehistoric, agriculturally-reliant Fremont culture of Utah (USA) circa AD 1100-1300, and that it was indeed a summer solstice indicator. Because genetic and cultural data verify that some Fremont people were ancestors to the Native Americans that occupy the modern pueblos in Arizona and New Mexico, we gather late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century ethnography from the latter pueblos to show that the summer solstice marked a major shift in agrarian practices-from field preparation and sowing to rain-making and crop fruition. Additional rock art iconography associates the red "Anthropomorph-with-V-shaped-headdress" motif with headhunting, a practice that, according to Pueblo Indian ethnography, was necessary for rain-making and abundant harvests. We then trace this historic Pueblo Indian conception to prehistoric head-taking pictographs aligned with the summer solstice and the seasonal shift it signaled towards rain-making through ritualized headhunting.