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The Night Sky in Chacoan Culture
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 THE NIGHT SKY IN CHACOAN CULTURE The Chacoan people were intimately aware of all their surroundings. They were close observers of the skies and seasonal cycles, and their observations provided them with the invaluable ability to time their agricultural and ceremonial events, which were central to their survival. Today, Pueblo descendants carry on many of these same traditions. Visitors are drawn to the park to learn about the monumental Chacoan sites, to view the pecked and painted images on canyon walls, to observe scattered pieces of pottery, and to ponder the greatness of the Chacoan world. It is natural to wish for a connection with the people who flourished in this stark and challenging place. The night sky, so clear and brilliant at Chaco Canyon, is a special connection that we all share, as we look to the skies to better understand our place on earth. Here is a preview of some of the archaeological sites we have linked to astronomical events:  CASA
RINCONADACasa Rinconada is the largest Kiva in Chaco Canyon. On the summer solstice the rising sun comes through a window situated on the northeastern side of the great round building and enters a niche on the western wall inside the Kiva.  PUEBLO
BONITOPueblo Bonito, largest excavated building in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, has near its southwestern corner, a doorway built into the corner of its room. Beginning on October 29 the rising sun enters the door to fall near a masonry structure in the northwestern corner of the room. On the winter solstice the sun has shifted to bring the sun into the northern corner where it stays for three or four days.  WIJIJINear the east end of Chaco Culture NHP sits the Great House of Wijiji. Across the diagonal of the building there is an alignment with a distinctive notch on the eastern horizon. Two weeks before the winter solstice the sun rises at the north corner of the notch, and two weeks later, on the winter solstice, at the south end of the same notch. Many researchers feel the predictive markers represent the most important markers, for it would be at such a place that the "sunwatcher" would actually gather important information so as to determine preparation times for ceremonial events or agricultural activities. A PICTOGRAPH ON THE UNDERSIDE OF A CLIFF FACE In the western end of Chaco Culture NHP there is a painting (pictograph) that may be a rendition of a super-nova explosion of a star in the constellation of Taurus. The explosion occurred in 1054 a.d. near the apex of the ancient Puebloan culture that was blossoming in Chaco. Oriental eyewitness accounts tell us the star grew so bright that it could be seen during the daylight for three weeks.   NAVAJO SUN
SYMBOLNear the east end of Chaco Culture NHP lies a rock with several Navajo sun symbols etched into its surface. Viewed from a particular flat stone "seat", on the winter solstice, the sun rises in a notch created where the stone meets the farther horizon. The edge of the stone lies at an angle against the sky. This angle is the same as that of the sun's rising, so that as the sun climbs into the sky it follows the edge of the stone for about 40 minutes. Clouds may come and go, but at anytime during the sun's ascent in that 40 minutes, if there is even a moment of clear sky, a watcher can determine the winter solstice has arrived. |