Sunlight and shadows at Fajada Butte served to mark the seasons a thousand years ago.
In the distance is Fajada Butte at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. It is one of the most famous sites in archaeoastronomy. A thousand years ago, people of the Chaco Culture used it to observe the Sun.
At a site now off limits to preserve its integrity, a set of three rocks cast shadows and daggers of sunlight onto a carved spiral petroglyph.
People used the position of the projected beams of light as a calendar to mark time through the year. In truth, simply watching the changing position of the rising and setting Sun along the horizon, which was also done here at Chaco Canyon, would have worked just as well.
I visited the site today, as part of a trek north through New Mexico, Arizona and into Utah. Chaco Canyon is one of the…
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Die Goldene Landschaft 